Finding the Balance
by Skylimit
Summary: Chapter 32-33: The final battles have begun...
1. Accepted?

Just like to get the rules straight for my fic:

Life points start at 4000.

Ritual and Fusion monsters can attack on the turn they're summoned.

The rest of the normal rules apply. And to finish up the intro, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! be it characters, story twists locations etc. but I do own new cards and characters etc.

* * *

It was a cold morning on the day of the Duel Academy entrance exams. On this once a year event many potential applicants walked down their streets, eagerly discussing strategies and hoping beyond hope that they would be accepted. This year however was different, as would be students groaned at the sight of heavy rain outside their doorsteps. Instead of talking about strategies kids now had to run with their hands over their heads, grumbling all the while. Arlene was one of the many who hoped to make it into Duel Academy, and she was one of the many who groaned at the sight of the heavy downpour. She had been woken up at 5 in the morning by the sound of rain lashing against her window, and had tried desperately since then - with no success - to go back to sleep. At 7 in the morning she was thwarted once again by the sound of her alarm clock steadily growing louder in an attempt to get her out of bed. She grumbled and groped around for the off switch on her alarm clock, eventually having to get up and crack open her turquoise eyes to see her alarm clock. Arlene made some grumbling noises as she slid her feet across her room, sometimes pushing away some clothes that were lying scattered on the floor until she reached the bathroom. She squinted at her reflection in the mirror to find her thick black hair flying all over the place. Resting her ghostly white skin against the window Arlene attempted to go back to sleep, but when she realised this was futile took off her pyjamas and stepped into the cold shower.

Arlene looked as though she would fall over and sleep for a few days as she made her way down the stairs. Her eyes seemed a little more focused when she entered the kitchen, as though she was aware of the prescence of food. Her eyes flicked around the kitchen and found her dad with his face pressed against the microwave, silently willing the food inside to heat up just that little bit faster. This was a daily ritual, so Arlene said nothing about it, simply walking to the cupboards to find some food. Her dad pulled himself away from the microwave to speak to Arlene.

"Good morning, Arlene!" She grunted in response and poured some cereal into a clean bowl. Her dad looked at her intently, thinking that Arlene would say something more than a grunt. When she didn't he gave a dramatic sigh and returned his attention to the microwave, wondering to himself how time could go so slowly. When Arlene had finished preparing her breakfast it was as though she had undergone a dramatic change. Her eyes now looked very alert, and she eyed the cereal she had prepared. Picking up her spoon, Arlene went on to devour her breakfast without spilling a drop. If there was one thing that could wake Arlene up, it was food. Her dad noticed Arlene's attentiveness and attempted to make conversation once again.

"It's a day today, eh?" Arlene gave another grunt, this time because she was thinking about something else rather than being tired. "Be ready in 10." Arlene finally seemed to recognise that her dad was speaking to her, and turned her head towards him.

"You're taking me? How come?" Her dad smiled and inclined his head to the window where there were loud thuds as the rain connected with the window. "Oh. Right." Arlene trudged up the stairs to get herself ready.

* * *

_I can't believe I'm actually going through with this..._ Arlene gazed up at the ceiling.

"Hey! Keep moving!" Arlene scowled as someone behind her gave her an unfriendly shove. She turned and glared at the person, who glared back. Finally the boy who had shoved her mumbled an apology and Arlene focused on what was in front of her, rather than above. She had been queueing for a good hour and was growing tired of people yelling about how they were the greatest and how they would be the best by the time they graduated. _I'll bet most of them lose because their heads are too swollen._ Arlene shuffled forward and was surprised to find that she was at the front of the queue.

"Finally," she muttered under her breath. Ahead of her was a very official looking desk with the Duel Academy Logo imprinted on it with a computer on the left. Sitting behind the desk was an official looking woman, dressed in a smart suit and with her hair tied back in a bun.

"Name." The woman sounded as though she wasn't having much fun.

"Arlene Ramirez." The woman scribbled down the name and checked the computer.

"Okay, you're clear. Kenny!" A security guard approached and pointed Arlene in the direction of a Duel Arena. Once there Arlene found a woman dressed entirely in blue with an odd Duel Disk.

"Arlene Ramirez?" The examiner asked in a crisp voice. Arlene nodded. "This duel will determine whether or not you will enter our prestigious school!" She seemed to stand up taller as she said this. "May the best Duelist win!"

_Damn dramatics..._ Arlene thought as she picked up her five cards.

Examiner: 4000  
Arlene: 4000

_My first proper duel, and what a setting. Are all duels at the Academy going to be blown out of proportion?_ Arlene sighed to herself. The examiner didn't notice this, instead beginning her turn.

"Alright then! I'll start by summoning Silent Magician Lv. 4 (1000/1000) in attack mode on the field!" The examiner slapped the card on her duel disk, creating a hologram of a small magician dressed mostly in white and blue, clutching a staff nervously. "I'll then set two cards face down and that will be all for my turn." Arlene drew a card, causing Silent Magician's attack to go up (1000/1000 - 1500/1000).

_Great. Thrown right in at the deep end._

"I forgot to mention, my Silent Magician gets an extra 500 attack points every time you draw a card." Arlene said nothing and looked at her cards.

"Okay, I'll summon Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) to the field in attack mode." A humble warrior dressed in ragged clothes appeared on the field.

_Balance Warriors?_ The examiner thought to herself. _That girl better know how to use them, otherwise this duel's done!_

_I don't have a clue how to use these cards, but they're better than that OTHER deck..._ Arlene shuddered at the memory and continued her turn.

"I'm equipping my monster with Shadow Cannon! This card can only be equipped to a monster with Balance in its name, and increases said monster's attack by 700 (1500/1500 - 2200/1500)!" Kirud now had a cannon in his hand, but once it was equipped, a shadowy aura started swirling slowly around it. "Huh. Wonder what that is." Arlene thought aloud, looking perplexed by the unexpected behaviour of her card. The examiner's eyes widened with surprise.

_She doesn't know! This duel is going to be a wake up call..._

"Oh well," Arlene shrugged off her confusion. "Attack Silent Magician!" Kirud shot a bolt of dark energy at the examiner's monster.

"And I activate my face down, right on time!" Suddenly Kirud was bound by a magic circle. "More specifically," the examiner continued, "my trap card Spellbinding Circle! Sorry, but your Balance Warrior can no longer attack or change its battle position." Arlene didn't seem too fazed. The examiner was started to get irritated by Arlene's lack of interest.

"Young lady, are you sure that you WANT to enter Duel Academy?"

"Sure. Why not." The examiner looked like she might explode. "My turn's done, you can explode now if you want." The examiner turned red as she drew.

"I'll set a monster in defence mode and place one more card face down before ending my turn! You had better pay more attention to your moves if you want any hope of entering this school!" Arlene gave a deep sigh.

_Much as I hate to admit it, she's right. I do want to go to this school. Just not as much as everyone else._ Arlene watched as Silent Magician became more powerful (1500/1000 - 2000/1000).

"I play the magic card Explosive Star, allowing me to destroy any one of your spell or trap cards, so I choose Spellbinding Circle!" A shooting star descended from the sky and smashed into the Trap card, promptly destroying it. As the magical field faded from Kirud, the black aura vanished. "Well that's weird," Arlene muttered. "But anyway! I now..."

"I hate to burst your bubble yet again," the examiner interrupted, "But I activate Waboku! This reduces any battle damage inflicted to me 0 and also prevents my monsters from being destroyed in battle, so I wouldn't try attacking." Arlene growled and set a card on the field before ending her turn.

"Well, now that you've finally decided to become serious, I shall do so as well!" The examiner announced. "I sacrifice My Silent Magician and my face down monster to summon the Abyss Magician (2500/0300)!" Arlene looked on as a bottomless hole appeared on the field, out of which emerged a magician unlike any the examiner had played so far. It had hollowed out eyes and no mouth. Its clothes were frayed in several places and its hands and feet were clawlike. "Attack and destroy that Balance Warrior!" The magician shot a bolt of energy straight at Arlene's monster. Arlene was blown back slightly by the force of the attack.

Examiner: 4000  
Arlene: 3700

Arlene picked herself up and grinned.

_Now YOU see how it feels!_ She thought to herself before speaking. "You just activated my trap!" She declared. "It's called Atomic Reaction, and I can only activate it when you destroy one or more of my cards. Until the end of this turn, you take 500 points of damage for each card you destroyed this turn, and you destroyed two!" There were two large explosions on the field as the examiner's life points went down.

Examiner: 3000  
Arlene: 3700

"Not bad," the examiner noted. "However, I was not finished. I now reveal my face down card Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back Silent Magician for a direct attack!" Arlene braced herself as the new monster struck at her directly.

Examiner: 3000  
Arlene: 2700

"I'll end my turn with a face down." Arlene picked up her card.

_I think I'm starting to get the hang of this. I must admit, I'm starting to enjoy the over the top turns._

"I use the spell card Graveyard's Vitality Root, which increases my life points by 800 for every monster with "Balance" in its name in my graveyard!"

Examiner: 3000  
Arlene: 3500

"Now I'll play Brain Control! At the cost of 800 life points, I get to take control of one of your face up monsters until the end of the turn, and I choose your Abyss Magician!"

Examiner: 3000  
Arlene: 2700

"And then I'll summon my Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) in attack mode!" As the Balance Warrior was summoned, a shadowy aura emerged from Abyss Magician and started floating around Hyan. "Okay, what's with the auras?" The examiner looked on in horror.

"Are you joking? You run a Balance Warrior deck and you don't even know about Dark Auras?" From the expression on Arlene's face, it was clear she hadn't. "You'll have to figure that one out on your own. But I will tell you if you were wondering, Hyan's effect means that when it's summoned, it gains a Dark Aura for every dark monster on your side of the field, and a Light Aura for every Light Monster. Now make your move!"

"Yeah, alright. Abyss Magician, attack Silent Magician!" Abyss Magician began charging up a shot.

_Please don't activate a trap, ppllleeeaase don't activate a trap..._

"I activate my trap!"

_DAMMIT!_

"It's called Magic Cylinder." The examiner explained. "In a nutshell, Abyss Magician's attack is negated, and you take damage equal to his attack."

"WHAT?" Abyss Magician's attack shot into a large purple cylinder, before being blasted out of the other one, scoring a direct hit on Arlene!

Examiner: 3000  
Arlene: 0200

"Well I'll attack your Magician with Hyan then!" Hyan raced forward and sliced at the Magician, sending it to the graveyard.

Examiner: 2200  
Arlene: 0200

"Well, you certainly are an unusual applicant. I don't think I've ever faced a potential student who didn't seem to want to enter the academy, and that showed in your dueling skills. Had you known what your monsters did, I do believe you could have won. However, thanks to your incompetence, I shall now win." The examiner picked up a card. "I..."

"I reveal my face down, Ring of Destruction! I can destroy one monster on the field, then we both take damage equal to that monster's attack, so I choose Abyss Magician!" A ring latched on to the Abyss Magician and then exploded, bringing the duel to a close.

Examiner: 0000  
Arlene: 0000

"Hmm, a draw," The examiner noted with disdain. "In this case, your entry is now determined by what rank you got in the theory exam. If it's high enough, you'll be accepted into Duel Academy. Though if you are, you really need to study up on your Balance Warriors." Arlene said nothing as she thought about what had transpired. She looked round to see how everyone else was doing, but to her annoyance, they were all staring at her, jeering and looking superior.

_Think they know so much! I think that was pretty good for my first real duel!_ The examiner walked up to Arlene, clearly not happy with the news she was about to tell Arlene.

"Congratulations. Welcome to Duel Academy."

* * *

At the bottom of each chapter I'll put up more details about original cards for this fic. However, the following cards will NOT be explained in this chapter: Balance Warrior Kirud, Shadow Cannon, Abyss Magician and Balance Warrior Hyan. The reasons being explaining the Balance Warriors at this point as well as their support cards would confuse too much and Abyss Magician will crop up in a later chapter where his effect will be revealed. The other original cards are fine, so...

Explosive Star  
Normal Magic  
Image: A close up of a shooting star with several TNT boxes strapped onto it.  
Effect: Destroy one magic or trap card on the field.

Atomic Reaction  
Normal Trap  
Image: A man holding a cylinder with a hazard sign on it as he is engulfed by a green light.  
Effect: You may activate this card when a card on your side of the field is sent to the graveyard. Until the end phase of this turn, inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent whenever a card is sent from your field to the graveyard. (The cards that activated this card also receive this effect).

Graveyard's Vitality Root  
Normal Magic  
Image: A grave with a small sapling growing near the tombstone.  
Effect: Increase your life points by 800 for each monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name in your graveyard.


	2. The Second Duel

Just like to say thanks to all those who've reviewed thus far, and the matter of Arlene's dorm has been addressed. Enjoy!

* * *

_You have GOT to be kidding me._ Arlene stared in disbelief at the large Duel Arenas in the ship that would take them to Duel Academy. It was clear from the gasps and cheers of the other Duelists that she was the only one who had this take on them. There were some already dueling, calling out insults and commands. Arlene rolled her eyes. _We're going to be dueling enough as it is on the island! Ugh. Well, if they have Dueling Arenas, they might have other facilities as well._ As she looked around for a ship guide, her thoughts turned back to the practical exam and its outcome. _I was the only student not to win outright but I'm in Obelisk Blue? They did say something about sashes but...meh._ Arlene spotted a ship guide posted on the wall and started reading it. Duel Arenas 1-10, Duel Arenas 11-20, Duel Arenas 21-30, accomodation...

"ACCOMODATION?" Arlene blurted out. Her calm composure dissipated as soon as she read that word. A few duelists in the vicinity turned and gave her some strange looks, but Arlene was too concerned with her own problem to care.

_I have to find an official. There has to be a mistake! This ship doesn't need accomodation!_ Rushing down a narrow hall Arlene managed to find an official looking man and raced up to him. The man noticed her almost immediately.

"Yeah? What is it, kid?" He asked looking very bored. "'M afraid I don't duel students..."

"There's ACCOMODATION on this boat?" The guard looked at her, puzzled.

"Well, yeah. This boat is at sea for three days..." Arlene's jaw dropped.

"THREE DAYS?" She shrieked. "I CAN'T BE ON A SHIP FOR THREE DAYS!" The guard blinked at her dumbly.

"It's part of Duel Academy's new entrance regulations. This way, we can determine more accurately which dorm you really belong in...or in your case, which sash you wear. You have to duel at least once." The man looked like he had rehearsed this, but Arlene simply groaned.

"I don't...handle ships so well." The guard shrugged.

"Not my problem." Arlene started turning green. "Aw great, make it my problem why don't you? Alright, bathroom's down the corridor to the left." Arlene didn't move and turned ever more green. "Kid, are you listening? The bathroom's...no no no, don't...not here...come on, move your legs to the bathroom." The guard started shoving Arlene towards the bathroom while Arlene was now a violent shade of green. "Don't puke here, DON'T puke here, DON'T PUKE HERE!" The guard got her to the bathroom and shut the door. He breathed a sigh of relief and walked off. About a minute later, Arlene staggered out of the bathroom.

"I...don't handle...ships so well..." she muttered to no-one in particular, before slamming the bathroom door again.

* * *

After recovering from the initial sea sickness, Arlene found out that there was a library but was infuriated to learn - via a grumpy librarian - that you needed to have dueled once to access the library for the rest of the day.

"What kind of a rule is that? What if a duelist needs to find out rulings on cards?"

"They duel first and then find out," the librarian answered curtly.

"I thought dueling here determined which dorm you went into. Surely something like that..."

"A duelist loses, then goes here, learns how to use their cards and makes up for their loses," the librarian interrupted. "Now if you're finished with your questions, I request that you leave." Arlene growled and stormed off.

Arlene decided to ask some duelists if they knew anything about Balance Warriors. Unfortunately all the people she asked were all infuriatingly useless. There were the duelists who were obsessed with dueling who demanded a duel from her before they said anything. There were the people who wanted to help, but knew very little about the Balance Warriors, and what they did know Arlene had already found out from the examiner. Last but not least there were the people who did know but respected the ship's policy and told her she would have to duel to find out. Arlene had finally lost it and snapped at a little boy who ran off crying.

_Dammit! This isn't getting me anywhere. I have to duel anyway before I can leave this ship..._ She suddenly clutched at her stomach. _I don't feel so good..._ At this point there was an announcement.

"Attention all duelists! Please report to Arenas 1 to 10 to receive their keycards to their rooms!" Arlene sighed in relief and headed off.

* * *

Arlene's first day at sea passed in a blur of duel challenges and throwing up, though thankfully not an amalgamation of the two. Arlene woke up early on the second day at sea, telling herself that she would duel today.

_The sooner I duel, the sooner I can find out about Balance Warriors and finally use my deck! Let's get this over with._ She slipped on a blank T-Shirt and some jeans and headed down to the large buffet she had stumbled upon while searching for a bathroom. To her annoyance, the normally full buffet was completely empty.

_No-one's hungry? I thought people would be abusing the buffet like crazy, after all it's free! Well, may as well get something to eat..._

"Hey you!" Arlene looked round to see a boy pointing at her.

_Well, so much for eating._

"It's rude to point." Arlene stated.

"Prepare to DUEL!" The boy announced, putting extra emphasis on the word duel. Arlene shrugged.

"Sure. Let's go." The boy laughed and launched into a dramatic speech.

"On your own head be it! I will crush you with my AWESOME cards!" Arlene said nothing but started walking towards an Arena. "Did you not hear me? I said..."

"I heard you. But we don't need the amateur dramatics beforehand." The boy looked surprised but simply ran ahead of her and stopped at one side of a Dueling Arena. Arlene was annoyed to see that all duelists who were awake were now focused on Arlene's duel. Arlene smiled slightly at the prospect of dueling again.

_I must admit that dueling's fun, but I really need to figure out how to use this deck._ Arlene got a better look at the person she would be facing. The boy had sapphire coloured eyes that were sparkling in anticipation and thick short hair. He was broad shouldered and tall with tanned skin. He gave a huge grin, and picked up one of the ship's Duel Disks. Arlene did the same.

"My name's Arlene, by the way."

"And mine's Bryon Perez! Now let's go!"

Arlene: 4000  
Bryon: 4000

"Ladies first," he said, gesturing to Arlene.

"How kind." Arlene looked at her hand. "I'll set a monster in defence mode and end my turn."

"And now it's MY turn!" Bryon drew his card and held it high in the air before adding it to his hand. "I'll summon Mother Grizzly (1400/1000) to the field in attack mode!" Bryon slapped a card on his disk and soon there was a dark blue bear on his field. "Now attack her face down!" Arlene did nothing as Mother Grizzly rammed into her monster only to be flung back.

"You hit my Balance Warrior Vimetu (900/2100) so no luck for you."

Arlene: 4000  
Bryon: 3300

"Well, I'll set a card on the field and call it a turn!" Bryon called out. Arlene drew a card, and a few seconds later a Light Aura was circling Vimetu.

_Crap, another monster whose effect I don't know._ She looked at Bryon expecting him to tell her about the card, but he looked as puzzled as she felt so Arlene continued her turn.

"Alright, I'll summon Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) to the field and destroy your monster!"

Arlene: 4000  
Bryon: 3200

"Well, thank you for activating my monster's effect!" Bryon said, looking through his deck. "I can now summon a Water monster from my deck to the field with an attack of 1500 or less, so I'll summon another Mother Grizzly to the field!"

"Alright then your move, Bryon." Bryon picked up his card.

"I activate call of the haunted, allowing me to bring back my Mother Grizzly from the grave! Even better, I'll now sacrifice it in order to summon Mobius the Frost Monarch (2400/1000) in attack mode! He has a special effect, but I wont activate it. Instead, Mobius will destroy Kirud!" Arlene winced as she received a blast of frigid air.

Arlene: 3100  
Bryon: 3200

"Fine then, it's my move!" Arlene drew, and the Light Aura circling Vimetu vanished.

_These Auras seem to be the key to the Balance Warriors._ She looked at the card she had just drawn. _Maybe if I top up Vimetu's Aura count something will happen. I'm placing the whole duel on this, but then again, what have I got to lose?_

"I activate my spell card, Artificial Aura! By paying life points in multiples of 1000, I can add a Light or Dark Aura on my monster depending on how much I pay. I choose to pay 3000 life points to add three Light Auras!" Vimetu shimmered as Light Auras began circling him while Arlene's lifepoints went down.

Arlene: 0100  
Bryon: 3200

Arlene looked on, hoping that something would happen, but Vimetu didn't destroy anything or let her draw cards, so she ended her turn.

"What happens to Vimetu now that it's got those Lights dancing round it?" Arlene tried to hide her lack of knowledge.

"You'll have to find that out on your own. Now make your move!" Bryon picked up his card.

"Alright then, this duel's done! Mobius, destroy her monster!" Arlene couldn't help but avert her eyes as she tried to brace herself for the inevitable. After a few seconds she heard Bryon yell in surprise. Curious, Arlene turned back to the field to see that Vimetu was still there!"

_Wow! The Light Auras did something at last! Though I'm not sure what..._

"What happened?" Bryon screeched. "My monster should have destroyed your monster! I should have won!"

"You're forgetting about those Light Auras." Arlene stated. "You wanted to know what they did, and now you know. Is it my turn now?" Bryon muttered under his breath but signalled the end of his turn. Arlene drew and set a monster before ending her turn. Bryon drew his card, then grinned at Arlene.

"I think I've figured out how your little monster works. I activate Smashing Ground to destroy your highest Defence monster, and that's Vimetu!" A giant fist slammed into Vimetu from the air, which promptly destroyed it. Arlene couldn't help but stare, utterly bewildered, as Bryon destroyed her face down with Mobius and reduced her life points to 0 with Mother Grizzly.

Arlene: 0000  
Bryon: 3200

"You were good, but not good enough!" Bryon gloated before taking his deck out of the Duel Disk and putting the Duel Disk on the floor and walking off. Arlene did the same, slightly disappointed at the outcome.

_Just when I have a revelation about my Balance Monsters I lose...but still! Now I can study up on them!_ Arlene walked towards the library.

* * *

_"Balance Warriors are unique monsters in that they can accumulate what is called Auras. There are currently two types of Auras, Dark and Light, although Maxamillion Pegasus has hinted that more types of Auras are "possible"."_ Arlene had found a Beginner's Guide to Balance Warriors Part 1, but was annoyed to find that Part 2 could only be found on the island. Arlene continued reading the passage. _"There are different ways to create Auras. Each time a Spell card is used, all Balance Warriors on the field of the player who activated the card receive a Light Aura. Every time a Trap Card activates, all Balance Warriors that the owner of the trap card controls gain a Dark Aura."_

_So THAT'S what happened in my duel with the examiner!_ Arlene noted, reading on.

_"Certain Balance Monsters gain effects when they have accumulated enough Auras of a certain type. Here is a list of all Balance Warriors who gain effects this way..."_ Arlene looked down the list until she came to Balance Warrior Vimetu. _"When this card has 3 Light Auras, it is unable to be destroyed as a result of battle, though damage calculation still applies._ Arlene read the rest of the list, memorising all of the effects. The book then went on to list some Balance Warrior support cards, which Arlene looked through as there was one card that was puzzling her.

_If my monsters gain a Light Aura every time a Spell card activates, wouldn't my Kirud have gotten one when I equipped it with my Shadow Cannon when I was dueling the examiner?_ She found the description for Shadow Cannon and read it.

_"Shadow Cannon is an unusual card, in that the card's effect negates the Light Aura a Balance Warrior usually receives, instead replacing it with a Dark Aura."_ Arlene read through the list which went right up to the end of the book before shutting it.

_At least I know a bit more about Balance Warriors. I think I might need to give Bryon a rematch on the island. Until then..._Arlene shut the book and left the library. _Of course, I'll need to find Ethan first._

_

* * *

_

Now that you know the basics of Balance Warriors, here are the Balance Warriors and their support cards used in the last part as well as the new cards in this chapter:

Balance Warrior Kirud  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500  
Attribute: Earth  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior / Effect  
Image: A tall warrior dressed in ragged clothes carrying a simple sword.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. Remove 1 Light Aura from Kirud to increase your life points by 800. Remove 1 Dark Aura from this card to inflict 800 points of damage to your opponent's life points. You may only use one of these effects once per turn.

Shadow Cannon  
Equip Magic  
Image: A black miniature cannon.  
Effect: You can only equip this card to a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name. Increase the equipped monster's attack by 700. Place 1 Dark Aura on the monster equipped with this card. This card does not release a Light Aura.

Balance Warrior Hyan  
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1200  
Attribute: Water  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior / Effect  
Image: A warrior dressed in ragged clothes holding a rusty sword.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. When this card is normal summoned, special summoned or flip summoned place 1 Light Aura on this card for every Light Attribute monster on your side of the field and 1 Dark Aura for every Dark Attribute monster on your side of the field. Once per turn, you may either remove 1 Light Aura from this card to destroy 1 face up magic or trap card, or remove 1 Dark Aura from this card to destroy 1 face down magic or trap card.

Balance Warrior Vimetu  
ATK: 0900 DEF: 2100  
Attribute: Wind  
Level: 3  
Type: Warrior / Effect  
Image: A small warrior hidden behind a large shield.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. During each of your standby phases, add 1 Light Aura to Vimetu if there is an even number of monsters on the field, and add 1 Dark Aura to Vimetu if there is an odd number of monsters on the field. When this card has 3 Light Auras, it cannot be destroyed in battle. While this card has 3 Dark Auras, it can only be destroyed in battle.

Artificial Aura  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: Several Light and Dark Auras contained within a large cylinder.  
Effect: Pay life points in multiples of 1000. For every 1000 life points you pay, you may add 1 Light or Dark Aura to a suitable monster on the field.


	3. Fighting the Tide

The next morning brought dull grey clouds and heavy rain that seemed to be determined to break through Arlene's window. When it became clear that she would not get back to sleep, she rolled out of bed and started to get dressed. She had just put on some dark trousers when someone knocked on her door. Quickly shoving on a T-Shirt, she walked to the door and opened it to see Bryon Perez, the duelist from yesterday.

"Good! MORNING!" He yelled. Arlene winced at being in contact with a morning person.

"Whatisit?" She slurred.

"It's time to DUEL!" Arlene winced again and yawned loudly.

"No thanks." Bryon seemed to ignore her answer.

"Alright then! Let's go find people to duel!" He grabbed Arlene's arm and started running. Arlene tried to cling on to the door, but only succeeded in slamming it shut as she was yanked along the corridor by Bryon.

_I'm too tired to care._ Arlene thought to herself. _I'll have a duel, and then I'll go get some breakfast and then just be lazy._ Her outline of the day appealed immensely until she was jolted back to reality when Bryon suddenly let go of her arm and she had to do everything in her power not to fall flat on her face. Arlene looked in front of her and saw a card stall, with many duelists gathered round it.

"Isn't it...great?" He said with a faraway look in his eye.

"Lemme guess. You have to duel to be able to go anywhere near that stall. That's why you wanted to duel someone." Bryon looked sideways to her and grinned.

"Yup! That's why I RECHALLENGE YOU! LET'S DUEL!" Arlene quickly walked towards a Duel Arena with Bryon close behind before too many people started staring. Unfortunately, a lot of Duelists wanted to watch a duel and so gathered round the edges of the Arena. Arlene could hear various shouts of encouragement, though none that she could hear were for her. Bryon and Arlene picked up their Duel Disks and slotted their decks into them.

_They probably know about the duel between us yesterday. Well, now that I have some clue as to what my Balance Warriors do, I'll beat him this time!_

"Prepare to lose again!" Bryon said dramatically.

"That's what you think!" Arlene retorted, then grimaced as she realised she had given in to the theatrics of dueling.

Arlene: 4000  
Bryon: 4000

"Losers first!" Bryon yelled cheerily.

_Give me a break!_ Arlene picked up her sixth card.

"I summon my Balance Warrior Vimetu (0900/2100) in defence mode! Then I'll activate my Spell card Artificial Aura! Now by paying life points in multiples of 1000, I can add a number of Light or Dark Auras to Balance Warriors on the field depending on how much I paid. I pay 3000 life points to add three Dark Auras to Vimetu!"

Arlene: 1000  
Bryon: 4000

"I'll finish up by playing Dian Keto the Cure Master, increasing my life points by 1000, and setting one card face down!"

Arlene: 2000  
Bryon: 4000

A lot of people started jeering at Arlene when she ended her turn. Arlene scowled and focused on Bryon's move.

"I remember this monster," Bryon said, grinning as he picked up his card. "And I know just how to destroy it! I activate my Spell card Smashing Ground! Now I can destroy one monster on your side of the field, and I choose your Balance Warrior Vimetu!" A large fist rammed into Vimetu. "Now I'll..."

"Hold on." Arlene interrupted, signalling at the field. Vimetu was still there!

"What? But it should have been destroyed!"

"You're forgetting one thing," Arlene explained. "If you remember in our last duel, Vimetu had three Light Auras on it. That meant it could not be destroyed in battle. However, because it now has three Dark Auras on it, it can ONLY be destroyed in battle." Bryon scowled, then smirked.

"Well, sadly for you I don't need to destroy your monster! I activate A Legendary Ocean!" The Duel Arena seemed to fill with water and soon the the bland Arena setting was replaced with an underwater city! "It gets better. I now summon my Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 (1500/1300) to the field, and because of my field card, it gains an extra 200 attack and defence (1500/1300 - 1700/1500)! But wait, there's more! When Umi is on the field, my monster can attack you directly! And yes," Bryon silenced Arlene who was about to interrupt, "my card is called Legendary Ocean, but its card name is also treated as Umi! So now I'll attack you directly!" Bryon's monster - which resembled an underwater exploration machine - fired off two blasts which struck Arlene, severely reducing her life points.

Arlene: 0300  
Bryon: 4000

"How do you like THAT?" Arlene stared at him.

"As I told you yesterday, it's rude to point. Are you done?" Bryon nodded and Arlene picked up her card. She looked at Vimetu.

_Normally Vimetu would gain an Aura, but once a Balance Warrior has three Auras they can't get any more._

"I'll summon my Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) to the field in attack mode. Then I'll activate the card Recovery Cannon! This card can only be equipped to Balance Warriors, so I'll equip it to Kirud! It then increases my monster's attack by 300, and the best part is, whenever a monster equipped with this card destroys a monster, I regain life points equal to the destroyed monster's attack! Go Kirud, and destroy Bryon's monster!" Kirud launched a white beam of energy from the Recovery Cannon that blasted Amphibious Bugroth MK-3. Then the white beam turned round and circled Arlene before vanishing, increasing her life points.

Arlene: 2000  
Bryon: 3900

"Now I'll activate the effect of my Balance Warrior Kirud. I can remove one Light Aura from it once per turn to increase my life points by 800!"

Arlene: 2800  
Bryon: 3900

"I thought your turn would never end!" Bryon told her as he drew. "Perfect! I'll play my Spell card Ocean Chant! How do you like THAT?" Arlene shrugged. Bryon was slightly dismayed at her reaction but quickly recovered. "Anyway! I discard one Water monster from my hand, and then I get to special summon a level four or lower Water monster from my graveyard! It can't attack and must be in attack mode though," he muttered under his breath. He discarded a card and with a swirl of water Amphibious Bugroth MK-3 was back. "My monster isn't staying for long though! I sacrifice it to summon my ultimate monster!" Bryon tributed his monster and held up a card into the air. "My Levia-Dragon - Daedalus (2600/1500 - 2800/1700)!" A large Sea Serpent appeared and leered at Arlene.

_Pfft. It's just a hologram._ Despite that thought, Arlene couldn't help but worry about what was to come.

"Normally, I would have to tribute two monsters for my monster," Bryon explained. "HOWEVER! Legendary Ocean downgrades all Water monsters on the field and in my hand by one star! It's about to get a lot worse for you. Daedalus, activate your effect!" The underwater city started to vanish and the arena shook.

"What's happening?" Arlene called out.

"It's simple. By sending Umi to the graveyard, Daedalus can destroy every single card on the field except for itself!" Arlene looked horrified.

_I'll only be left with 200 life points! I have to do something...maybe my face down..._

"NOW LEVIA-DRAGON!" Bryon roared. "DESTROY ALL CARDS ON THE FIELD AND ATTACK ARLENE DIRECTLY!" Levia-Dragon Daedalus seemed to shrink as it attacked Arlene.

Arlene: 1400  
Bryon: 3900

Bryon gaped. "Umm..." he finally said after a long pause. "What just happened?"

"I activated a trap called Aura Strike," Arlene replied. "I could only activate it when a Balance Warrior was removed from the field. In this case I chose Vimetu. For each counter it had, I could activate one of the four effects Aura Strike has. I could regain my life points by 700, decrease your by 500, increase a Balance Warrior's attack by 400 until my next end phase or decrease one of your monster's attack by 400 until my next end phase. Since Vimetu had three counters, I decreased Daedalus' attack by 1200 points (2600/1500 - 1400/1500)!" Bryon snarled.

_Dammit!_ He thought. _This girl has gone from being a ditz to being good in a day! I can't lose to her!_

"My move," Arlene drew her card. "I'll summon Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) to the field, and destroy your Levia-Dragon!" Arlene's Warrior drew a rusty sword and slashed Bryon's monster cleanly in two.

Arlene: 1400  
Bryon: 3500

"Fine then. My move." Bryon picked up his card and looked at the field.

_She may have been able to destroy Levia-Dragon, but once I draw my trump card, she wont stand a chance! For now though, I need to play stalling cards._

"I'll set a monster and end my turn."

"Alright then! I'll summon Balance Warrior Boru (0500/0500) in attack mode! Now Hyan, attack his face down!"

"FOOL!" Bryon yelled. "My monster was Gale Lizard (1400/0700)! When it's flipped, I can send one monster back to your hand, and I choose Hyan!" Hyan was blown back by a gust of wind into Arlene's hand.

"Well Boru can still attack you directly!"

Arlene: 1400  
Bryon: 3000

"I'll finish by playing Swords of Revealing Light, meaning you can't attack me for three of your turns!" Bryon said nothing.

During the next three turns, it was simply a case of summoning monsters. Bryon summoned Sea Serpent Warrior of Darkness (1800/1500) on his turn, and Arlene responded by resummoning her Balance Warrior Hyan. Bryon then tributed his monster for Neo Aqua Madoor (1200/3000) in defence mode and Arlene did nothing on her turn. Finally Bryon set a card and ended his turn, meaning the Swords of Revealing light were destroyed. Arlene picked up her card.

"Now it's time to activate Boru's special ability!" Arlene announced. "Whenever a monster is normal summoned or flip summoned Boru gets a Light Aura, and by removing a Light Aura, I can draw a card. So I'll remove all three of Boru's counters to draw three more cards!" Arlene picked up three cards. "Just so you don't think that Boru's broken, I have to keep him in face up attack mode otherwise he's destroyed. Anyway, I'll set one card and end my turn."

"Well it was fun dueling you," Bryon announced. Now time to end this. I reveal Call of the Haunted, allowing me to bring back a monster from the grave, and I choose Levia-Dragon - Daedalus!" He took a dramatic pause before continuing. "I did say before that Levia-Dragon was my ultimate card. Unfortunately for you, I lied. I sacrifice my Levia-Dragon to summon...OCEAN DRAGON LORD - NEO DAEDALUS (2900/1600)!" Arlene was shaking as she watched Levia-Dragon mutate into a two headed beast. "Now, do you remember Levia-Dragon - Daedalus' effect?" Arlene nodded. "Ocean Dragon Lord does one better. By sending an Umi to the graveyard, I can destroy all cards on the field AND IN OUR HANDS except for my Ocean Dragon Lord!" Bryon placed a second Legendary Ocean Field card on his duel disk and swiftly removed it. Bryon laughed manically as the first of Arlene's cards was destroyed, then froze when she revealed a face down.

"This duel's done." She said. "Because I activate my Atomic Reaction trap card! I activate this when one of my cards gets sent to the graveyard. Until the end of this turn, for every card of mine that's sent to the graveyard, you lose 500 life points, and that includes the card used to activate the effect! Do you know what that means?" She paused.

_Should I be OTT? Ah, why not? I've never won before!_ She pointed at Bryon.

"Since there were 5 cards in my hand and two monsters on the field, you lose 3500 life points!" Bryon shielded himself as his side of the field was hit with several explosions. When the smoke cleared, Bryon's life points had been reduced to 0.

Arlene: 1400  
Bryon: 0000

"I...lost." Bryon muttered as the crowd cheered. Arlene said nothing but walked up to Bryon.

"C'mon. Let's go to the card stall."

* * *

New cards...

Recovery Cannon  
Equip Magic  
Image: A small white miniature cannon.  
Effect: You can only equip this card to a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name. Increase the equipped monster's attack by 300. When the equipped monster destroys a monster in battle, increase your life points by an amount equal to the destroyed monster's attack.

Ocean Chant  
Normal Magic  
Image: Four druids underwater in a circle. In the middle of the circle there is a blue light.  
Effect: Discard 1 Water Attribute monster from your hand. Special summon 1 level 4 or lower Water monster from your graveyard and special summon it to the field. The special summoned monster must be special summoned in attack mode. The special summoned monster cannot change its battle position except by a card effect and cannot attack.

Aura Strike  
Normal Trap  
Image: Warrior Dai Grepher being attacked by several Light and Dark Auras.  
Effect: You can activate this card when a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name is removed from the field while it has at least 1 Light Aura or 1 Dark Aura. For each Aura the monster had, you may activate one of the following effects: increase your life points by 700, decrease your opponent's life points by 500, increase a monster on the field with "Balance Warrior" in its name's attack by 400 until your second end phase after this card's activation or decrease an opponents monster's attack by 400 until your second end phase after this card's activation. Each effect can be used more than once.

Balance Warrior Boru  
ATK: 0500 DEF: 0500  
Attribute: Fire  
Level: 2  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A small warrior dressed in tattered robes holding a small dagger.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. Each time a monster is normal summoned or flip summoned, place 1 Light Aura on this card. Each time a monster is special summoned, place 1 Dark Aura on this card. During your main phase, you may remove a number of Light Auras from this card to draw a number of cards from your deck equal to the amount of Auras removed, or you may remove a number of Dark Auras from this card to randomly discard a number of cards from your opponent's hand equal to the amount of Dark Auras removed. You may only use one of these effects once per turn. If this card is not in face up attack position, it is immediately destroyed.


	4. Shock

For the remainder of her time at sea, Arlene found that Bryon had been following her around and talking to her a lot about dueling and his dreams to become the greatest.

_This sounds very original._ Arlene thought sarcastically as Bryon launched into an "I'm the greatest" speech. The duel against Bryon now proved to people that Arlene wasn't a terrible duelist, but as many people reminded her - as if she needed reminding - she was the only one who had not won outright in their entrance exam. This had happened so many times that she lost it and snapped at a little boy who ran off crying. An extreme sense of deja vu came from this action, but Arlene ignored it and looked around. The ship had finally arrived at Duel Academy and they were waiting for an escort to take them to the main structure on the island.

_Wonder what Duel Academy's like..._ Arlene was jolted out of her thoughts by Bryon leaping in front of her.

"Hey ARLENE!"

"Um...hi." Bryon grinned then walked off.

"What an idiot."

"I HEARD that!"

Eventually the escort arrived and took the duelists to a large building surrounded by tall sand coloured pillars. They were taken to a lecture hall where they were greeted by the Chancellor - a bald man whose eyes made him appear younger than he was.

"Welcome duelists!" He announced. "You are all here because you have proven to us that you have what it takes to make it to the top of the Dueling ladder, and here at Duel Academy your skills will be honed to heights you never dreamed of! First though, to the nature of the school. Namely which dorm you will belong in. Duel Academy has three dorms..."

_I'm finally here._ Arlene thought to herself. _No doubt Ethan will be in the Obelisk Blue Dorm, but I have time. I would like to meet him soon though..._ Arlene brought her focus back to the speech.

"...for the boys. As for the girls, you will all be staying in the Obelisk Blue Female Dorm. However, so that we can tell how good a duelist you are, we have added sashes to your uniforms, working in the same way as the dorms! So from lowest to highest it's red, then yellow and finally blue. Don't be discouraged if you get a red sash, as there are always opportunities to promote your rank! Well then, if you'd all like to collect your uniforms, the escort will take you there." Arlene let herself be shoved along by the crowd of duelists to where they would collect their uniforms.

_Three guesses what sash I have._

_

* * *

_

Arlene wasn't surprised to learn that she had received a Red Sash. They were then shown to the girl's dorm - a large blue castle-like building - where Arlene headed up to her room and got changed. She found a small PDA in her jacket and spent a few minutes trying to figure out the controls.

_Maybe I can contact him through this._ Sadly, the PDA was smart enough to forbid her from dueling people who were "better" than her. Arlene had to do her best not to explode with anger at this, and resolved to find Ethan the old fashioned way; asking around.

Arlene had been wandering around campus for a good few hours. The sky had darkened when Arlene felt something strange in the air.

_This is weird. Something's...not right._ Arlene stood on the spot, trying to work out what could be troubling her. _Maybe it's that I haven't found Ethan yet._ Arlene sat down on the grass. _It's been ages since I last saw him. Now I'm here and I can't find him, I just..._ Arlene couldn't help but smile. _Look at me getting emotional. Better keep looking._ It was at this point that she heard a sound like a large explosion. The ground shook violently and wind whipped past her.

_What the hell?_ Arlene looked to the direction of the explosion. Seeing nothing as her view was blocked by trees, Arlene raced in the direction of the explosion. It didn't take her long to get there, and when she did she was shocked at what she saw.

It was the Slifer Red dorm on fire.

Giant flames encased the remains of the dorm. Arlene just looked dumbstruck at the ruins, catching only glimpses of the actual dorm through gaps in the flames. There were screams and chaos all around her as she simply stared at the destruction. A boy crashed into her, bowling her over. Before the boy could get up Arlene had grabbed his collar.

"What happened here?" She demanded. The boy had tears in his eyes as he tried to explain.

"I...don't know. We were having a meal and..." He collapsed on the floor, clearly exhausted. Just to be safe, Arlene checked that he still had a pulse, then pulled him further away from the licking flames. After pulling the boy far enough away, Arlene turned round...and saw Bryon Perez being dragged out of the wreckage by two other Slifer Red students. Arlene raced up to him and helped to pull him away. When they lay him down, Arlene knelt beside him, trying to regain her thoughts. She didn't have much time, as at that point three consecutive explosions pierced her hearing. Arlene shoved her hands over her ears until the noise abated, then looked around.

_Three more explosions? What the hell's going on?_ Arlene stayed beside Bryon. Minutes crawled by until Arlene saw a Ra Yellow student run up to them. He was in the same state as the Slifers.

"Ra...Yellow...fire...explosion..." Arlene was now at a complete loss for words.

_Slifer Red AND Ra Yellow? There were two more explosions. Were they the Obelisk Dorms?_ Arlene picked herself up and ran back to her dorm.

* * *

It was utter chaos when she got back. Girls were screaming their lungs out, though the calmer ones were tending to the unconscious. Arlene asked one of the girls what had happened.

"We were just in our dorm, then there was this huge explosion. Luckily we were on the ground floor, but the others..." the girl hung her head.

"We should make our way to the main structure of Duel Academy. It's the only building not in ruins." The girl's eyes widened as Arlene explained, then grew cold. The girl made to run off to tell the others, then paused.

"My name's Fay."

"Arlene." Then Fay was gone. Arlene's mind was spinning out of control as she tried to register events that had happened so quickly.

_These explosions came out of nowhere...but they're not accidents. That much I know. Too many coincidences for that._ Arlene decided to get some help, so headed off to the Duel Academy building, her mind racing all the while.

* * *

Arlene was relieved to see that there was at least one building on the island still intact. A few students were talking to each other, though by the sounds of their voices it was clear that they'd heard the explosions. Arlene ignored the people trying to ask what had happened, instead marching towards Duel Academy.

That was when the last explosion happened.

The explosion was small enough that it didn't engulf the students outside, but with enough force that it threw Arlene back. She landed heavily on her back and stared up at the large building now with smoke pouring out of it. Arlene struggled to get up, but found her vision dimming. The last thing she saw was the sky, tainted by smoke.


	5. Damn Mysteries

Arlene flickered open her eyes to find herself staring up at a starlit sky. Arlene looked around her to see a large group of people lying on the ground, supposedly unconscious. She slowly got up and saw the Duel Academy main building, no longer on fire but now a charred mess. Arlene dusted herself down as she thought about the fate of the shcool.

_I wouldn't be surprised if most of the students left. I wont though. I have some unfinished business here._

"ARLENE! YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" Arlene was rugby tackled to the ground while being bear hugged at the same time. Arlene struggled against her attacker, until she realised it was Bryon.

"Bryon, you can let go of me now." Bryon reluctantly got to his feet and Arlene did the same. "How are you, though? You were unconscious before I was." Bryon shrugged.

"I'm not missing any limbs so I'M OKAY!" A few people started complaining about Bryon's loudness but he ignored them. "It was weird. I was in the heart of the building..." Bryon noticed the strange look Arlene was giving him. "I think of buildings as people. Fun, huh?" Arlene gave him another quizzical look but let him continue.

"Then, there was this LOUD EXPLOSION!" A few more complaints were heard, but Bryon was determined to conclude his narrative. "Then I woke up here." Realising he had finished his narrative, Bryon decided to run up to a girl and bear hug her. The girl screamed and within a few seconds three boys had charged into him, backing away a few seconds later mumbling apologies. The girl started shrieking at Bryon, who just grinned embarrased. Arlene looked around to see Fay watching the scene. She looked up when she saw Arlene approach. The last time they had met, Arlene had not had time to notice anything about Fay. Now that she had a clearer mind, Arlene saw that Fay had blueberry coloured eyes that matched her wavy dark blue hair that Arlene noticed was in the style of a flame. She also had deeply tanned skin and thin lips.

"Hi again...Arlene, was it?" Arlene nodded. "Arlene...?"

"Ramirez. I didn't catch your surname though."

"Oh, it's Fay Britt!" Fay yawned loudly at this point. "Sorry. I'm really tired."

"I wouldn't have thought anyone could get any sleep after what happened." There was an uncomfortable silence. When neither of them chose to speak, Arlene found somewhere on the ground and tried to fall asleep.

* * *

Within the next few days, lessons started albeit haltingly. Arlene was amazed that so many people were choosing to stay at the school, but didn't say so to anyone else. Arlene had had several more uncomfortable conversations with Fay, and slowly they were becoming accustomed to each other. It was while they had just had an awkward silence that Fay suddenly perked up.

"Oh! Have you heard the news?"

"Nope."

"There's this guy called Erick Guerra, and he's going to help raise some money for the school!" Arlene slanted an eyebrow.

"Why would we need help raising money? Surely the school can support itself."

"Well...yeah," Fay shifted uncomfortably before continuing, "but we'd be idiots to refuse!"

"Oh? Have we ever heard of this guy?"

"No...I don't see what that's got to do with anything." Arlene sighed and changed the subject.

"How's he going to raise the money?" Fay's eyes sparkled.

"A dueling tournament on the island!" Arlene rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's _really_ original." She noted sarcastically. Fay looked hurt.

"I thought it was a great idea! Raise our spirits by dueling, knowing that we'll..."

"Wait. WE have do duel?"

"Well...yeah."

"Dammit."

* * *

Erick Guerra came to the island a few days later to announce the beginning of the tournament. A group of duelists had gathered to meet the man, and Arlene had reluctantly relented to Bryon's protestings and come along with him and Fay.

_This whole thing doesn't feel too great. It's just how I felt before the dorms set on fire._ Arlene paused. _Shouldn't we be doing something to find the people who set the buildings on fire? After all, if nothing's done we'll just get a repeat of this._ Arlene voiced her thoughts to Fay, who scratched the back of her head - something she tended to do when she was flustered.

"Well...there is, Arlene!"

"I haven't heard that."

"No offence, Arlene, but you're not exactly a social bee. Other than me and Bryon I haven't seen you talking to anybody!" There was a long pause before Fay muttered an apology. Arlene was about to respond when she felt herself being pushed by the crowd. In front of her she saw a small raised platform, on which stood the person who Arlene guessed was probably Erick Guerra. The man had eyes the colour of varnished wood and had luxuriously straight grey hair worn in a style not too far from a pair of wings. Arlene saw a member of security rushing up to the stand with a small stool, which the man stood upon so that he could be more clearly seen. He fidgeted with his hair for a few seconds before starting to speak in a slow, halting voice.

"Hello there, Duel Academy students. I would first like to start by saying that I am sorry that my first visit to this school is at a time of tragedy, but I come bearing good news. In order to raise money for your school, we are hosting a Duelling tournament on this island." There were a few murmurs at this.

_He's having the tournament on THIS island? It doesn't create a good image for the school..._ Arlene was starting to get more and more suspicious, but continued listening to the man's speech.

"We have charged duelists not from the school to participate, and we will be setting up stalls on the island to raise even more money, so that by the end of this tournament, there will be enough money to fund the rebuilding of your school." There was a polite applause, after which Erick began to explain how the tournament would work. Arlene was pleased to learn that Duelists didn't need to collect chips or anything like that, instead having designated duel areas where a group of duelists battled until there was one winner. Once there was a winner for each area, the duels would move to outside the Duel Academy building, where duels would continue until there was a winner, who would be eligible to enter the National League. Throughout the explanation, Arlene had kept glancing at Fay who was staring intently at the ground. Arlene did see her look up at Erick when he arrived, but then her face had blanched with fear and she had immediately looked away.

Arlene found out that she would be dueling by the Slifer Red Dorms tommorrow, but saw that Bryon and Fay were dueling elsewhere.

_I may be better with my deck, but I still don't know everything about it. There's at least one other book on Balance Warriors..._ Arlene breathed deeply and looked up at the sky. _But I'm more confused about this whole situation. All the dorms burn down, and a few days later a guy wants to hold a tournament on the island to help raise funds? I guess he could be doing this out of kindness, but the way Fay was looking at him...GAH! I hate mysteries! Let's just hope this tournament's over soon._

_

* * *

_

For those of you who like the duels, sorry about the lack of them in the past two chapters, I just needed to advance the story. Now that I have, we'll be getting right back into them next chapter!


	6. Disrupting the Balance Part 1

Just to forewarn you. In Arlene's duel, her opponent uses some normal monsters that have higher stats than normal, er...normal monsters with no downsides. THESE ARE REAL CARDS. They're going to be released in Strike of Neos, the next expansion. Now that you're warned, on with the fic!

* * *

The grim sky on the day of the tournament brought with it some light rain, though not enough to relocate tournament areas - or so Arlene thought. Arriving at the Slifer Red Dorms, Arlene found the area almost completely deserted, apart from a lone man with an umbrella at the ready. Arlene rushed up to him.

"Excuse me, but isn't this where Duel Group G is supposed to be?" The man shook his head.

"It's been relocated to a Duelling Tent. Just follow the cliff right for about ten minutes."

"But it's hardly even raining." At that moment the rain started to become more violent. "Right. Thanks." Arlene muttered through gritted teeth as she tried to get to the Dueling Tent as quickly as possible.

* * *

"Haha! I thought my opponent might have chickened out on me!" Arlene rolled her eyes.

_Oh boy. Another Duelist who thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread._

"AND my opponent's the girl who drew in her Dueling entry exam! This'll be easy!" Arlene shrugged at this.

_Best not to encourage him by retorting._

"Let's just get this over with," Arlene told her challenger, "whatever your name is."

"How can you not know the mighty Devin Pickett?"

"Easily. There are enough of here who think you're the greatest. All of you just blend into one annoying mass."

"Whatever! Let's duel!"

Devin: 4000  
Arlene: 4000

"Let's see," Devin muttered, picking up his card. "I'll start by summoning Gene-Warped Warwolf (2000/0100) to the field in attack mode!" Arlene smirked.

"And what downside does this monster have?" Devin looked puzzled. "Pegasus wouldn't release a normal four star monster with 2000 attack!" Devin grinned.

"Actually, that's exactly what he did!" Arlene's jaw dropped.

"You're kidding." Devin grinned widely.

"It gets worse for you! I play the magic card Ancient Rules! Now I can special summon a level 5 or higher monster to the field, so say hello to my 6 star monster Frostsaurus (2600/1700)!"

_This is insane!_ Arlene thought as she stared at these monsters. _The standards have really been raised for normal monsters!_

"Make your move!" Devin declared. "My monsters are way too powerful for you!"

_Don't give in to cheesy dialogue, don't..._

"Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!"

_Crap._

"I summon my Balance Warrior Gyunn (1600/1400) to the field in attack mode! I'll then equip it with Recovery Cannon. This card increases my monster's attack by 300, and whenever I destroy one of your monsters, I gain life points equal to the destroyed monster's attack (1600/1400 - 1900/1400)."

"That's still not enough to..."

"Don't interrupt."

"HEY!"

"Shut up. I know that under ordinary circumstances, Gyunn doesn't have enough attack points..."

"SEE? I TOLD YOU..."

"HOWEVER! Gyunn is not ordinary. For every Light Aura Gyunn has, his attack goes up by 400. And seeing as I activated a magic card..." a Light Aura started to swirl around Gyunn, raising his attack (1900/1400 - 2300/1400). "Gyunn, destroy the warwolf." Devin shielded his eyes as his monster was struck by a beam of white energy. When he opened his eyes, his monster was gone and Arlene's life points had gone up.

Devin: 3700  
Arlene: 6000

"One attack changes nothing!"

"That's why I'm setting one card face down." Devin dismissed this and drew his card.

"Time to show you the REAL power of my deck!"

"I can hardly wait."

"I'll summon The Six Samurai - Zanji (1800/1300) in attack mode!" Arlene looked mildly interested as Devin summoned his monster.

_Six Samurai against six Balance Warriors...this ought to be good._

"Now, my Frostsaurus will destroy your Balance Warrior!"

"Nope."

"What?"

"I'm activating a quick play magic card known as Artificial Aura! I can add any number of Light or Dark Auras to my Balance Warriors, but I have to pay 1000 life points for each one. I'll choose to add one Light Aura to Gyunn, so up goes Gyunn's attack (2300/1400 - 2700/1400)!" Devin's icy dinosaur shattered as Gyunn launched an assualt on it, then a swirling light raised Arlene's life points even more.

Devin: 3600  
Arlene: 7600

"Fine then!" Devin declared. "I'll activate Nightmare's Steelcage! Now neither of us can attack for two turns!"

"Fine with me." Arlene picked up a card and ended her turn.

"Alright! I'll summon The Six Samurai - Kamon (1500/1000) to the field! And because I have another Samurai face up, once per turn instead of battling, I can destroy a face up magic or trap card, so I'll choose your Recovery Cannon!"

"So? My monster still has 2400 attack points without it (2700/1400 - 2400/1400)." Devin didn't say anything for a few seconds. Finally he ended his turn. Arlene picked up a card and ended hers, destroying the Nightmare Steelcage.

"Now time for your REAL nightmares to begin!" Devin announced.

"Very original."

"SILENCE! I summon to the field Great Shogun Shien (2500/2400)!" Now Arlene was starting to get impressed.

_Six underlings, and a leader; just like the Balance Warriors._

"Normally my Shogun needs two sacrifices, BUT when there are two or more Six Samurai monsters on the field, I can skip the sacrifices! Even better, while this card is on the field, you can only activate one magic or trap card per turn! So, my Shogun, DESTROY HER MONSTER!"

"Crap!" Arlene blurted out as Gyunn was destroyed.

Devin: 3600  
Arlene: 7500

"Now my other two Samurai will attack you directly!" Arlene winced as the two monsters made contact.

Devin: 3600  
Arlene: 4200

"I think you're starting to see my deck's power!" Devin noted as Arlene stood up; she had been knocked over by the force of the blows. "This duel will be over soon!"

"Enough with the trash talk!" Arlene yelled. "A duel's a duel! You want to brag, do it on your own time!" Arlene drew her next card.

* * *

"Now! WARRIOR of Atlantis (1900/1200) finish the duel!" Bryon declared. His monster slashed at his opponent.

Bryon: 1250  
Zander: 0000

"Bryon is the winner!" An announcer declared. A few people applauded politely, but most just glared at Bryon as they had gotten fed up with his over enthusiasm.

"WOOHOO! I WIN!"

"Bryon, please step off the Dueling area."

"YAHHOOO!"

"Now!"

"AWW YEAHH!"

"Security!"

* * *

"Envoy of Sky Zeradias (2100/0800), finish this!" Fay grinned as she won her duel.

Davie: 0000  
Fay: 9500

"Fay is the winner!" Fay nodded in acknowledgment at the sound of cheers, and wondered how her friends were doing as she stepped away from the Duel Area.

* * *

In a remote area of the island, a security guard was talking to someone over the phone while furtively looking around to see if anyone was nearby.

"Sir, the first rounds are well underway. Profits made from the stalls are slow, but we expect them to increase as the tournament progresses. We should have enough money to fund the restoration of the school." The security guard paused as he listened to a voice talking through the phone. "No no, we haven't forgotten about the girl. We're waiting for her to lose a duel...yes. Sir, can I ask about your decision to...of course sir, it's none of my business. I apologise." The guard hung up and stared down at the ground, waiting.

* * *

All of the cards Devin, Fay and Bryon used in this chapter are real cards. Some are being released for Strike of Neos, and some for Force of the Breaker, coming after Strike of Neos. If anyone wants to know more about these cards, PM me and I'll be happy to explain.

New cards...

Balance Warrior Gyunn  
ATK: 1600 DEF: 1400  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A serious looking warrior in ragged robes. He has no weapons, but his hands are curled into fists.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. For each Light Aura this card has, increase this card's attack by 400. Once per turn during your main phase, you may remove 1 Dark Aura from Gyunn. If you do so, Gyunn can attack your opponent's life points directly this turn. When Gyunn attacks directly, any increase in Gyunn's attack due to Light Auras is ignored.


	7. Disrupting the Balance Part 2

"What a match we're having here folks!" The announcer of Arlene and Devin's duel announced. "To briefly summarize, Arlene currently has no cards on the field and 5 cards in her hand! Devin on the other hand has three monsters on the field: The Six Samurai - Zanji (1800/1300), The Six Samurai - Kamon (1500/1000) and Great Shogun - Shien (2500/2400) but has only 2 cards in his hand!" The announcer turned to Arlene and gave her the all clear to continue the duel.

_About time. He'd better not have to do that again, at least not during my turn._

"Okay then! I'll summon my Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) to the field, and equip him with Shadow Cannon. This card brings his attack by 700 points, which means it's got the same attack as your General (1800/1200 - 2500/1200)! Now Hyan! Destroy Kamon!" Hyan fired a beam of dark energy at Kamon, bringing down Devin's life points even further.

Devin: 2600  
Arlene: 4200

When Arlene looked at the field, she saw that Kamon was still on the field, but Zanji was not.

"Okay, Devin. Explain." Devin's eyes shone.

"Gladly! When Kamon would be destroyed, I can destroy another monster with "The Six Samurai" in its name instead, so I chose Zanji!"

"Fine then," Arlene continued. "I'll place a card face down and end my turn." She studied the field.

_This duel's becoming more and more difficult the more of those Samurai he has! I need to get rid of them somehow..._

"Okay then!" Devin announced. "I summon The Six Samurai - Yaichi (1300/0800) to the field! Now I'll activate Yaichi and Kamon's effects! Yaichi, destroy her face down, and Kamon destroy her Shadow Cannon!" Yaichi fired an arrow straight at Arlene's face down, destroying it, while Kamon threw an explosive at Shadow Cannon causing it to shatter. "Once my monsters use their effects, they can't attack this turn. However, Shien can! Destroy that Balance Warrior!" Arlene shielded herself as Shien slashed at Hyan and lowered Arlene's life points.

Devin: 2600  
Arlene: 3500

"You might as well give up now! This duel's over!" Arlene snarled.

"Enough with the insults! You're starting to be really annoying, and you were annoying to begin with!" Arlene drew her card. "I summon my Balance Warrior - Emri (1400/1600)!" Arlene paused to look at her Balance Warrior.

_I've been able to summon all my Balance Warriors at least once. Only one left is their leader..._

"Now Emri, attack and destroy Yaichi!" Emri rammed into Yaichi, but Kamon was destroyed instead.

Devin: 2500  
Arlene: 3500

"I thought you might do something like that. That's why I waited to activate a card called Remnants of Balance! Now I can remove from play any number of Balance Warriors in my graveyard. For each one I remove I can either add a Light or Dark Aura to a Balance Warrior, or pay 1000 life points to draw a card. I'll add one Light Aura to Emri and pay 1000 life points to draw an additional card. I can't activate any other magic cards before or after this one, but your Shien stops me from doing that anyway." The field shone as ghosts of Hyan and Gyunn appeared. Hyan transformed into a Light Aura that started circling Emri, while Gyunn merged with Arlene's deck as she drew a card.

Devin: 2500  
Arlene: 2500

"Emri also gains one Light Aura from my magic card." Devin pretended to yawn.

"Woohoo, your monster has some flashing lights and you picked up a card. BIG DEAL!" Arlene smirked.

"Emri, use your ability. I remove one Light Aura from Emri to destroy Shien!" Emri fired a Light Aura at Shien, but the Supreme General blocked it with his sword and sent it flying to Yaichi, destroying Yaichi instead.

"Did you forget that Shien can choose another monster to be destroyed instead of itself?" Arlene swore.

_Dammit! Emri can only use the effect once per turn!_

"I'll set a face down and end my turn." Arlene was fuming. Devin laughed harshly as he drew his card.

"I'll summon another The Six Samurai - Zanji to the field! Now Zanji will destroy your Balance Warrior, and then Shien will end this!" Arlene gritted her teeth, then grinned. Devin was puzzled. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be annoyed? Sad that you lost or something? You shouldn't be happy!"

"Well, this duel's not over yet, because I activate my trap card Blinding Light! It allows me to remove one Light Aura from a monster on my field and activate that monster's Light Aura effect! So I'll destroy Shien!" Emri blasted its second Light Aura at Shien, who deflected it to Zanji promptly destroying it. A Dark Aura then emerged from Arlene's trap and started swirling around Emri.

"So you destroyed Zanji. I'll destroy your monster with Shien instead!" Arlene was knocked back as Shien slashed into Emri.

Devin: 2500  
Arlene: 1400

"My move then," Arlene noted.

_If there's any time to destroy Shien, it's now when he doesn't have a monster to deflect my effects to._ Arlene picked up her card. _Or maybe not._

"I activate Brain Control! By paying 800 life points I can take control of one of your monsters, so I'll choose your Shien." Devin turned white as Shien moved to Arlene's field.

Devin: 2500  
Arlene: 0600

"Now Shien, finish up this duel. I've had enough of this guy." The Shogun raced towards Devin and knocked him to the ground as his life points hit 0.

Devin: 0000  
Arlene: 0600

"Arlene is the winner!" Arlene breathed a sigh of relief at the duel being finished and walked away from the Duel Area.

* * *

Arlene won two more duels, meaning that she would partipate in the next round outside of the Duel Academy Building. Arlene met up with Bryon and Fay, where Arlene learned that Fay had made it to the next round, but Bryon had not.

"I dueled against this REALLY STRONG guy with a Burn deck," Bryon moaned. "I didn't stand a chance." Fay tried to be encouraging.

"Don't think like that! What was the final score?"

"He had 16000 life points and I had 0."

"Oh. Is he still in the running?"

"I don't know, I didn't pay much attention after that." Fay tried to think of more encouragement, and looked to Arlene to help her out. Arlene suddenly became very interested in her surroundings until Bryon sighed and walked off.

"Arlene!" Fay hissed. "You could have helped me out there!"

"You were digging a hole. Anything I could have said would have made it worse." Fay stuttered, but eventually gave up and asked Arlene how she had done in her duels. "I did good enough. I battled a guy with a Six Samurai deck..."

"Oooh! You mean Devin?" Arlene glanced sideways at her.

"You know him?" Fay sighed.

"Who DOESN'T know him?" There was a pause. "Oh. Right. SO! Who else did you duel?" Arlene and Fay talked about their duels before someone waved at Fay and she walked off.

_Think I'll check the card stalls._ Arlene soon found a few stalls, but most of the cards were sold out. There were a few dueling magazines, so Arlene picked one up and started to skim read it, but finding nothing of interest, put it back and started to walk around.

* * *

On another part of the island, a security guard was talking to someone on the phone.

"Hello, sir...the tournament is progressing smoothly. Card sales have gone up...of course, sir. Sorry sir...yes, sir. She hasn't lost a duel yet...no. Don't worry, sir. Her next opponent will be...you want...wait a second, sir I'll write this down." The man hastily scribbled a name on a piece of paper. "Got it, sir." The line went dead.

* * *

The rest of the day passed quickly, and soon Arlene was standing on the Duel Area next to the Duel Academy Building. She was surprised to learn that her opponent wasn't arrogant. Her opponent - whose name was Hayden - was very quiet, with long dark hair that masked his eyes.

"Are you ready to duel?" He asked.

"Sure. Why not." Arlene replied.

"Very well. You can go first then." Arlene picked up a card.

Arlene: 4000  
Hayden: 4000

"I'll summon Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) in attack mode and end my turn." Arlene looked at Hayden suspiciously.

_I'm starting to miss the arrogant duelists. There's something not right about this guy..._

"I'll summon Dark Sphere (0500/0500) to the field." Arlene was slightly freaked out by Hayden's quiet and deep voice. "Then I'll play enemy controller, sacrificing my Dark Sphere to take control of Kirud. Next I'll play Artificial Aura." Arlene's eyes widened. Hayden noticed this. "That's right, I use a Balance deck as well. But unlike you, I know more about them. I digress. Artificial Aura lets me add a number of Light or Dark Auras to a monster, one for 1000 life points. I'll pay 3000 to add 3 Dark Auras to Kirud." Arlene started shaking at the sight of the 3 Auras.

_Why is this guy getting to me so much? Who is he?_

Arlene: 4000  
Hayden: 1000

"Now I'll play the magic card Disrupting the Balance, which I can only activate when a Balance Warrior on my field has 3 Light or Dark Auras. I send that monster to the grave. Then I can summon a monster from my fusion deck whose fusion requirements have been met." Arlene was horrified.

"So...wait...the Balance Warriors..." she faltered.

"The Balance Warriors can perform a number of tricks when they have Auras on them. Their true power is revealed when they succumb to their Auras. So, as I was saying, from my fusion deck I can now bring out Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud (2500/1500)." The Duel Area darkened as Kirud's features started to disfigure. His arms extended and claws replaced his hands. His legs did the same. His sword turned dark black with specks of blood, and his facial figures became completely twisted. Arlene stared up at her Balance Warrior, now lost to the darkness.

* * *

New cards...

Balance Warrior Emri  
ATK: 1400 DEF: 1600  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A warrior in tattered robes holding a staff with a blade on the bottom of it.  
Effect: This card can have a total of 3 Auras at any time, and they must be of the same type. Once per turn, you may either remove 1 Light Aura from this card to destroy 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field or remove 1 Dark Aura from this card to remove from play 1 monster on your opponent's side of the field.

Remnants of Balance  
Normal Magic  
Image: A corpse of Balance Warrior Emri with a Light Aura directly above him.  
Effect: You cannot activate any other magic cards on the turn you use this card. Remove from play any number of monsters in your graveyard with "Balance" in their name. For each card removed by this effect, you may activate one of the following effects: Add either 1 Light or Dark Aura to a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name, or pay 1000 life points to draw 1 card. Each of these effects can be used more than once.

Blinding Light  
Normal Trap  
Once per turn, during your main phase, you may discard this card from your hand to add 1 "Hidden Darkness" from your deck to your hand. You may not use the effect of "Hidden Darkness" that allows you to add 1 "Blinding Light" from your deck to your hand this turn. Remove 1 Light Aura from a monster on your side of the field and activate the chosen monster's Light Aura effect.

Disrupting the Balance  
Normal Magic  
Image: A set of scales with Light Auras and Dark Auras around them.  
Effect: Send from your side of the field to the graveyard a monster with either 3 Light Auras or 3 Dark Auras. Then special summon from your fusion deck a monster whose fusion requirements have been met by the monster destroyed to activate this card.

Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud  
ATK: 2500 DEF: 1500  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 6  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A twisted version of Balance Warrior Kirud. His facial features are disfigured, his arms and legs are now claws and his sword is black with specks of blood.  
Effect: This card cannot be summoned from the fusion deck except by sending one face up "Balance Warrior Kirud" with 3 dark auras to the graveyard with "Disrupting the Balance". This card cannot accumulate Light Auras. Whenever this card would gain a Dark Aura, it gains double the amount of Dark Auras. Once per turn you may remove 1 Dark Aura from Kirud to inflict 1000 points of damage to your opponent. This card gains 500 attack for each Dark Aura it has. (This card may have other effects, but at present these are the known effects of Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud).


	8. Fear and Flames

"Now, I'll get my Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud to attack you directly!" Arlene screamed at the top of her voice as Hayden's monster sliced at her.

Arlene: 1500  
Hayden: 1000

_What's wrong with me? Why am I so scared? It's only a hologram!_ Despite her self encouragement, Arlene couldn't shake her fear. _Just...just think rationally and you'll be fine!_ Arlene nervously picked up her card.

"I...I'll..." Arlene stuttered and became very conscious of everyone staring at her. "I...p...play two Dian Keto the...C...ure Master, to bring my life points up by 2000 in t...total."

Arlene: 3500  
Hayden: 1000

"That changes nothing." Hayden told her darkly. Arlene turned white when he spoke, and struggled on with her turn.

"I'll summon m...my Balance Warrior Vimetu (0900/2100) to the field in d...defence mode. Then I'll play my...own Artificial Aura!" Arlene was visibly shaking at this point.

_I'm NOT scared! I can do this!_

"Artificial Aura a...allows me to add one Light or...D...Dark Aura..." Arlene stopped and looked at Hayden's monster. "I surrender." The announcer shook his head.

"I'm sorry, miss, but you can't..."

"I SURRENDER! I SURRENDER!" Arlene screamed, but the announcer shook his head again.

"If you want this duel to be over," Hayden spoke up, "then end your turn." Arlene blanched with fear.

_No...if I end my turn, he'll attack with...K...Kirud._ The thought proved too much for Arlene and she passed out.

* * *

"What got into the girl?"

"I don't know. When Hayden summoned that monster she started screaming that she wanted to surrender." Arlene recognised the man's voice - the announcer. She couldn't tell who the other one was though.

"So what's been done?"

"We put that up as a loss for her. She's out of the tournament now."

"I see. Well I guess it was the best option. After all, she might have been faking her fear to change opponents!"

"Mm. Well, I've been here long enough. The tournament must go on! Now let's see who's next up..." There was the rustling sound of paper. The last sound Arlene heard before she lost consciousness.

* * *

"And now for the final match! It's Hayden versus Fay!" Fay glowered at Hayden, who did nothing in response.

"Let us begin." Hayden said quietly as they drew their cards.

Fay: 4000  
Hayden: 4000

_I can't let this guy win. Not after what he did to Arlene!_ Fay thought to herself.

"Alright then! I'll start by summoning my Kelbek (1500/1800) in attack mode! Then I'll place one card face down!" Hayden drew his card.

"I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon on your face down card." Fay was impassive as her card was destroyed. "Then I'll summon my Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) to the field. Then I'll play the magic card Darkness Rising. This means that from now on, all magic cards release Dark Auras instead of light ones, including this one." A Dark Aura started to swirl around Kirud. "Next I'll play the magic card Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards, provided I discard two cards in my hand afterwards." Hayden picked up three cards and then selected two cards to send to the graveyard, and another Dark Aura circled Kirud. "I'll then play Meteor of Destruction, inflicting 1000 points of damage to you." Fay shielded herself as a Meteor smashed into her.

Fay: 3000  
Hayden: 4000

_Will this guy end his turn already?_ Fay wasn't scared by Hayden, but she was wary.

"Now that Kirud has three Dark Auras on him, I'll play Disrupting the Balance, sending Kirud and his three Dark Auras to the graveyard, in order to bring out Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud (2500/1500) from my fusion deck." Fay watched as Kirud started transforming, until he was a darkened image of his former self. "I'll now play my Poison of the Old Man magic card, allowing me to inflict 800 points of damage to you." Fay winced as her life points went down.

Fay: 2200  
Hayden: 4000

"Since Darkness Rising is still on the field, Poison of the Old Man releases a Dark Aura. However, since Kirud is now consumed by darkness, whenever he would gain a Dark Aura, he gains two." Two Dark Auras started swirling around Kirud, but they looked different from normal Dark Auras. They now seemed to move with purpose, and Fay was sure that she saw hollowed eyes in the Auras. "And now for Kirud's effect. Once per turn, I can remove a Dark Aura to inflict 1000 points of damage to you." An Aura detached from the Warrior of the Dark Aura and raced towards Fay, going right through her before shattering.

Fay: 1200  
Hayden: 4000

"Now, Kirud will activate his second effect. During battle, he gains 500 attack points for every Dark Aura he has. So Kirud, attack Kelbek and end this duel."

_He's going to beat me after one turn? No way!_ Fay watched as the Dark Aura powered up Kirud (2500/1500 - 3000/1500) before it sliced Kelbek cleanly in two.

Fay: 0000  
Hayden: 4000

"Hayden is the winner!" Hayden looked impassive as the announcer spoke. Fay walked away from the Duel Area to check up on Arlene.

* * *

A security guard had seen the duel and now pressed several buttons on his phone.

"Hello, sir. I'm just calling you to inform you that Fay Britt has lost a match. We await your orders." The guard paused as someone spoke on the other end of the line. "Again, sir?" The guard asked once the person on the other end had finished speaking. "But we already...ah, I see. So what should we do with...very well, sir. We'll carry out your orders." The man hung up and then called another phone. Within a few seconds the person on the other end had picked up. "We've received orders. Capture Fay Britt. Close up the card stalls and such and take the money. Knock out anyone who forcefully tries to stop these orders from being carried out. Once everything is safely packed away, get as far away from the island as possible. Then we torch it." There was sounds of protest on the other end of the line but the guard interjected. "I don't understand it either, but orders are orders. Are you going to question them?" There was silence. "Good." He hung up and buried his head in his hands for a few minutes before walking away.

* * *

Arlene woke up to the sound of screams. Her eyes shot open and stared at her surroundings.

Everything was burning.

The forest, the Dorms, the Academy Building...they were all covered in fire. Arlene looked on in horror.

_What's going on? Why is everything...again? What's happening?_ Looking round, Arlene couldn't see anyone. _Maybe they're getting off the island at the pier? I need to find out what's going on._ Arlene raced off.

When she got there, all of the boats were ablaze. There were corpses scattered around, all looking charred. There were a lot of people still alive, and they were mostly screaming or curled up in balls, refusing to accept what was happening. Arlene looked around, but saw no signs of Fay or Bryon.

_Where else could they be? The dorms? The forest? The mountains?_ Arlene decided to check the Dorm areas first.

* * *

Arlene found Bryon at the Slifer Red Dorm. He was staring up at the building as it burned to the ground.

"Bryon!" Arlene called out. Bryon turned and looked at her with surprise.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, his eyes round.

"I came to find you! Now come on, we have to find Fay!"

"That wouldn't be a wise choice." Arlene was puzzled.

"W...what? What are you talking about?" Bryon giggled insanely.

"Fay's running, but we'll find her! She can't get off the island, we made sure of that!" Arlene stared at Bryon.

"...Did you have something to do with the burning of the dorms?" Arlene asked quietly. Bryon laughed again.

"Burn the heart, and the whole building goes up in flames! Oh yes, Arlene. It was my job to make sure that Slifer Red burned to the ground!" Arlene just looked stunned. Finally she spoke.

"Who are you working for?"

"Now, now Arlene, that's classified information! Needless to say though, Erick Guerra's one of us. So's the boy who scared you so much, Hayden."

"And you held this tournament to set the island on fire?" Bryon smiled.

"Oh, silly Arlene, of course not! We also wanted to make some money!"

"You...BASTARD!" Arlene swore loudly and raced up to him. Bryon punched her right in the stomach, causing her to double up with pain.

"I wont fight you. I will duel you though. I want revenge after you beat me." Arlene stood up and glared at him coldly.

"I don't duel scum." She said venomously. Bryon's eyes hardened.

"I didn't give you a choice. Look at your stomach." Arlene felt her stomach and found there was a small electrical device. "It's just a little something to make this duel more interesting. Look, I have one as well!" Bryon pulled up his shirt to reveal the same device attached to his skin. "Lose all your life points and you lose your life. And if you leave before the duel's done...instant death. Now. Let's duel."

* * *

Fay was running for her life. The sound of footsteps behind her were the only things stopping her from collapsing on the spot. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

_I can't run for much longer._ She didn't know where she was running to, but all she knew was she had to find somewhere safe. _Please...someone help! Bryon! Arlene! Anyone!_ No-one came to help her, and she collapsed, face down on the floor as the sound of footsteps approached.

* * *

Whew! A few revelations there. I'd also like to say that, with prelims looming (starting on the 2nd of February - argh!) updates on this story will be less frequent, meaning that there may not be any for a while. My prelims end on the 9th though, so I'll be able to continue with this at a regular pace. This doesn't mean that there wont be any more parts until the 9th of February, it just means that updates will be more unpredictable until the 9th. Thanks!

New cards...

Darkness Rising  
Continuous Magic  
Image: A Pot of Greed card releasing a Dark Aura.  
Effect: While this card is on the field, all magic cards that you play - including this card - release Dark Auras rather than Light Auras.


	9. The Amateur

What do you know? Looks like I was able to get a part up after all! Next one wont be until at least the 9th though because of prelims.

* * *

"You'll pay for all of this." Arlene picked up her five cards. Bryon chuckled.

"That's what they all say. Believe me, you're not the first victim to be in this situation. As you can see, I'm still alive after all these challenges. We're getting away from the point though. I'll go first."

Bryon: 4000  
Arlene: 4000

"I must warn you, this deck isn't like my old one. I'll start with the magic card Oozaki, inflicting 800 points of damage to you!" Arlene screamed as fire erupted around her and the device on the stomach activated, sending a jolt through her body.

Bryon: 4000  
Arlene: 3200

"Water in disguise, and fire when revealed. My decks are quite the contrast, eh?" Arlene said nothing as she recovered from Bryon's card. "You know, that was so much fun, I'll activate my Meteor of Destruction, inflicting 1000 points of damage to you!" Arlene screamed even louder than before as a meteor smashed into her. The jolt this time was even worse.

Bryon: 4000  
Arlene: 2200

"I'll then play Graceful Charity, drawing three cards and getting rid of two!" Bryon did so. "I'll then summon Volcano Soldier (1500/1000) Arlene stared at the warrior encased in flames. Bryon grinned wickedly at this point. "I'll set three cards face down and end my turn. So make your move, Arlene!" She drew her card in silence.

_I won't be beaten by this piece of work. I'll make sure he suffers for what he's done!_

_

* * *

_

"Hey? Are you ok? WAKEY WAKEY!" Fay groaned and opened one eye cautiously. A boy of about 17 was staring down at her. She couldn't make out what the person looked like as he was mostly surrounded by shadows.

"Who are you? What the hell's going on?" Fay made to her feet, then fell to the ground again. The teenager held a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Calm yourself. I found you lying here on the ground."

"What about the security guards?" The boy grinned mischieviously.

"I set up a miniature detour. It wasn't much - I didn't have much time to set up a great one - but it was enough. Do you know why they were after you?" Fay pretended she didn't know.

_I don't know how good this guy's detour was. The guards could come back here any second! And how do I know I can trust him?_ Fay cast a glance at the teenager, who gave a smile in return. Fay was about to speak when an image of Arlene flashed through her mind, screaming and engulfed in flames. _We may not be the best of friends, but I'd feel lousy if I left without finding her._

"I have to find someone on the island." The boy's expression fell slightly.

"You might have a bit of trouble there. The whole island's on fire, people are running around like crazy...your friend could be anywhere." Fay made to get up and leave, but the boy followed her. Now out of the shadows, Fay saw that he had turquoise eyes, straightened pine green hair that went down to his neck and a thin build. The boy looked at her quizically. "Umm...what's with that analysing look? It's like you were sizing me up." Fay blushed and quickly averted her eyes. The boy shrugged. "Well, doesn't matter. I'll help you look for your friend, IF! You tell me your name."

"Fay." The boy nodded.

"Mine's Ethan. Now let's go!"

* * *

"Alright, bastard, I'll summon my Balance Warrior Gyunn (1600/1400) in attack mode! Now I'll destroy your Warrior!" Gyunn leapt into the air and drew a dagger. Bryon activated a trap card in response.

"Gravity Bind is now in effect! This means that level 4 or higher monsters can't attack!" Arlene gave Bryon a cold smile in return.

"Nope. I'm activating Mystical Space Typhoon, a quickplay magic card that destroys one magic or trap card on the field, and I choose Gravity Bind! And Gyunn will continue his attack!" Bryon folded his arms as his monster was destroyed.

Bryon: 3900  
Arlene: 2200

"Damn!" Bryon said with mock annoyance. "Oh well, I'll survive. Are you done?" Arlene nodded slowly.

"Make your move." She growled. Bryon chuckled darkly.

"Y'know, it's weird that you haven't asked me more about...this!" He waved his hands in a big sweeping gesture around the area.

"You told me all I needed to know. You set this place on fire, and you'll pay for it." Bryon looked at her quizzically.

"You think that I was able to set the entire island on fire at once? Our organisation makes every member useful. For every explosion, there was someone behind it."

"You mean to tell me...that the first explosions on the buildings were started by 5 different people?" Bryon nodded.

"Of course, we got in some more members just for this special occasion! We'll clear the island, then..." Bryon slapped his forehead. "Oops! Almost gave too much away there! I'll just continue, shall I?" Bryon picked up his card. "And now it's time to bring back my Solar Flare Dragon that I discarded with Graceful Charity with my face down, Call of the Haunted!" Arlene stood motionless at the sight of the monster. "But wait! It's gets BETTER! I'm activating my other face down, Inferno Reckless Summoning! Here's how it works. I can only activate this card when I special summoned a monster with 1500 attack points or less. Now I can summon as many monsters from my deck with the same name as the monster special summoned, so from my deck I bring out 2 more Solar Flare Dragons!"

"Great magic trick." Arlene noted sarcastically. "But I know that now I can choose a monster on my side of the field and do the same! So I summon two more Gyunns from my deck!" Bryon chuckled.

"Yes that's true. So, why would I bring out three monsters weaker than the three of yours?" Arlene's eyes widened while Bryon's became narrow slits and he smiled thinly. "You can see what I'm getting at. As long as Solar Flare Dragon's on the field, you can't attack a Pyro type monster on my field. AND! My Solar Flare Dragons are the Pyro type, so you can't attack any of my monsters!" Arlene thought quickly.

_That may be the case, but Gyunn's Dark Aura ability can take care of that!_

"And now," Bryon sighed dramatically. "After setting a card. I. End. My. Turn." Arlene immediately felt pain as the three Solar Flare Dragons launched fireballs at her.

Bryon: 3900  
Arlene: 0700

"Argh! What was that?"

"That, Arlene, was the effect of my three Solar Dragons. During the end phase that they're face up on the field, you take 500 points of damage. And since there were three, you lost 1500 points! Now MAKE your move!"

* * *

Fay rushed through the forest, with Ethan tailing behind her.

_If I were Arlene, where would I go? To safety? Or somewhere else?_ She pondered that for a few seconds. _Last time this happened, she went round the dorms. She might have done the same in this case._ Fay changed direction to head to the Slifer Red Dorm.

* * *

"Alright, Bryon. You've had your warped fun. I play The Search for Ultimate Balance! By paying half of my life points and not performing any other kind of summon this turn, I can special summon one Ultimate Balance Knight from my hand, deck or graveyard, so I choose my deck!" Arlene thumbed through her deck, finally finding the monster she needed. On Arlene's side of the field appeared a Knight in grey armour with a lance - Ultimate Balance Knight (2500/1550).

Bryon: 3900  
Arlene: 0350

"My knight has an effect I can use once per turn," Arlene informed Bryon. "I can add one type of Aura to each of my monsters with Balance in their name, and I choose Dark Aura!" Three seperate Dark Auras burst out from Arlene's Knight and circled her three Gyunns.

"This changes nothing!" Bryon snorted. "You can't attack any of my monsters!"

"Oh, really? Ultimate Balance Knight, destroy a Solar Flare Dragon! Balance Lance!" Ultimate Balance Knight charged up to a Solar Flare Dragon. The other two blocked his way, but he simply leapt above them and attacked from above.

Bryon: 3400  
Arlene: 0350

"H...how is that...possible?"

"My Knight can attack any monster, regardless of effect. If he does, then the damage you talk is halved."

"Well, as you can see, the duel isn't over." Arlene looked at him with cold eyes.

"Oh. It's over. I activate the effects of all three of my Gyunns! By removing a Dark Aura from Gyunn, he can attack directly, so go Gyunn number one! Attack!"

Bryon: 1800  
Arlene: 0350

"Gyunn number two! Do the same!"

Bryon: 0200  
Arlene: 0350

"Gyunn number three! Attack!"

Bryon: 0200  
Arlene: 0350

Arlene looked confused, but Bryon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good thing I had a Sakuretsu Armour, eh?" He winked at Arlene. Arlene turned pale.

_If I can't get rid of his two Solar Dragons now, I'll lose at the end of his next turn!_

"I'll play Lightning Vortex! By discarding a card in my hand, all of your monsters are gone!" Bryon was confused.

"Why would you activate that now? Why not when I had three monsters?"

"I hoped to win with my attacks. Obviously I was wrong." Bryon shook his head in exasperation, looking extremely angry.

"To think I lost to someone like you! You're an amateur through and through!" Bryon tried to say something, but instead grolwed and drew his card. "IT'S OVER! I play Hinotima, to inflict 500 points of damage to you!"

Bryon: 0200  
Arlene: 0000

Arlene collapsed to her knees, expecting pain. It came. Arlene felt as though great surges of energy were going through her. When she thought she couldn't take it anymore, it stopped. Confused, she looked up and saw Bryon standing at the edge of the cliff.

"I hoped you would win." Bryon told her. "I hoped that my last duel could show me why I lost to you. It showed nothing. You were lucky, Arlene. Against real opponents you can't win. Remember that." Then he stepped off the cliff.

* * *

When Fay arrived at the Slifer Red Dorms, there was nothing there except for the burning building.

* * *

And with that, the first story arc is over, meaning the story will calm down a bit in the next part. This story arc was a short one, I know, with a lot of unanswered questions. The answers will come all in good time. Don't forget to review to tell me how I can make this fic even better!

New cards...

Volcano Soldier  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000  
Attribute: Fire  
Level: 3  
Type: Pyro  
Image: A shooting ball of fire, encased in which is a small warrior.  
Normal Monster: Born from a Volcanic eruption, this warrior lives to fight.

The Search For Ultimate Balance  
Normal Magic  
Image: All 6 Balance Warriors observing a large set of scales.  
Effect: You can only activate this card if you not performed any kind of summon this turn. Pay half of your life points to special summon an "Ultimate Balance Knight" from your hand, deck or graveyard. You may not perform any kind of summon for the remainder of this turn.

Ultimate Balance Knight  
ATK: 2500 DEF: 1550  
Attribute: Wind  
Level: 6  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A warrior dressed in grey armour with a lance.  
Effect: Once per turn, this card can give all Balance Warriors on the field a Light or Dark Aura. This card can attack a monster regardless of its effect. If this effect is used, damage calculation is halved. Any battle damage to this card's controller involving this card is reduced to 0.


	10. 3 Days Later

Second story arc begins! Enjoy!

* * *

_Still no sign...this is getting frustrating!_ Fay gazed out at the vast expanse of ocean. _It's been 3 days and there's no sign of Arlene. Where could she be? All the boats and ways of getting off the island were destroyed..._

"FAAAEEEEYYYY!" Fay spun round to see Ethan striding towards her, a happy grin on his face. Fay found herself sadly reminded of Bryon, though Ethan was nowhere near as crazy or random.

_Bryon vanished on that night as well. Wonder what happened to them._ Ethan finally reached Fay, then flicked his hair out of his eyes.

"Been looking for you! It's almost time for class!" He sighed. "I can't believe they started classes so soon. Still! Means we all have good spirits! Let's go!" Ethan began striding towards the remains of the Duel Academy Building. Fay continued to look out at the sea for a moment, before shrugging and racing after Ethan.

* * *

"Now, who can tell me what Dark Magician's effect is?" Proffessor Macias smiled thinly as a Slifer Red Student raised their hand. Macias was the one teacher at Duel Academy who could seemingly switch personalities at will. Despite her switching attitudes, her physical features stayed the same: she possessed hooded grey eyes that looked like two pools of mercury; she had dark chocolate coloured hair that was worn in a businesslike style; she was very tall and had lightly tanned skin. The Slifer Red Student balked as Macias underwent a personality shift, but suddenly became emboldened.

"Dark Magician...doesn't have an effect?" The student ended weakly. Macias nodded coldly.

"That was the correct answer, Ethan. However, kindly do not whisper answers to the other students." Ethan nodded seriously. When he was in class, Ethan became extremely focused. Macias frowned. "Well, Ethan, you can answer this next question. There is only one correct answer. How many lifepoints would I need to give up when activating Tremendous Fire?" Ethan paused.

"It's 500." Macias glared, then she shifted personality and beamed at Ethan.

"Correct! Now, that's all for class today! WAIT!" She called back the students about to leave. "I know that some of you have neglected to duel in these past few days. Therefore, your homework for tomorrow is to participate in a duel and then write a brief summary of what transpired. DON'T think of improvising - the teacher can always tell."

"Y'know, you haven't dueled since the island got set on fire," Ethan noted as he and Arlene walked back to the direction of the Obelisk Blue Dorms. Workers had arrived to repair the dorms only this morning, so all students would have to sleep outside for another few nights.

"I've had other things on my mind." Ethan shrugged.

"Sure. I understand. But now you have to duel! So let's go!" Fay smiled.

"Not just now thanks."

"Then why don't I take you on?" Fay could have sworn that she saw Arlene racing up to her, but when the person approached, Fay had no idea how she could have confused herself - the duelist was a boy. Fay made to respond, but Ethan gave her a friendly nudge out of the way.

"I'll give you a duel little man!" Ethan gave a friendly smile, but the boy scowled.

"My name's not little man! It's Chester!"

"Cool. Mine's Ethan. Now let's go!"

Chester: 4000  
Ethan: 4000

"Alright then," Chester declared, puffing himself up. Ethan had to run a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "I'll summon my Masked Dragon (1400/1100) to the field in attack mode! And that's all!" Ethan picked up his card, his eyes becoming extremely serious.

"Alright, Chester. I summon my Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) to the field, and as you can see, he has enough attack points to destroy your monster and make a dent in your life points! ATTACK!" Chester folded his arms and looked up at the sky, pretending to be bored.

Chester: 3500  
Ethan: 4000

"You idiot!" Chester announced. "Thanks to my Masked Dragon's effect, I can special summon another Dragon monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less, so who better to choose than another Masked Dragon, this time in defense mode!" Ethan surveyed the field while Fay rolled her eyes.

_I can see why Arlene got so bored of arrogant duelists. Let's just hope this Chester guy gets beaten soon..._She suddenly clasped a hand up to her mouth. _Wait. Am I turning into Arlene?_ Fay shook her head rapidly and continued to watch the duel.

"I'll finish up by playing Heart of the Underdog," Ethan played his card. "Make your move."

"Gladly!" Chester drew. "I'll play the magic card Polymerization, fusing my Lord of D. 1200/1000) and my Divine Dragon Ragnarok (1500/1000) in order to summon my King Dragun (2400/1100)!" Chester paused to marvel at his new dragon which towered over Ethan. Fay looked on in wonder. "Anyway!" Chester continued. "I now utilize his effect, allowing me to special summon a dragon monster from my hand, and I choose my Luster Dragon (1900/1600)!" The shimmering dragon let out a piercing roar before it fixed its eyes on Ethan's monster. "Now, my dragons, ATTACK!" Ethan steeled himself for the attacks, but nevertheless let out a roar of pain as his life points were crippled.

Chester: 3500  
Ethan: 0200

"I'll finish with that." Ethan was breathing heavily, but picked up his card. At this point his Heart of the Underdog card started glowing.

"I activate my magic card's effect! During my draw phase, if the card I pick up is a normal monster, by showing it to you I can draw again! In fact, I can keep doing this until the card I pick up is not a normal monster. So let's see how many more cards I can get!" Ethan showed Chester the card he had just drawn and picked up another card. He showed the next two cards to Chester as well before progressing with his turn. "I'll set four cards face down and summon Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) to the field. Now, attack his Masked Dragon!"

Chester: 3000  
Ethan: 0200

"Which allows me to take another Masked Dragon from my deck to the field. That wasn't very bright, Ethan." Ethan said nothing. Chester shrugged and drew. "I'll finish this now! I don't care too much for your face downs, so I'll summon to the field my Mirage Dragon (1600/0600) who stops you from using trap cards during your battle phase! What do you think of that?" Ethan revealed a face down card.

"I activate the counter trap, Forced Back! Now your monster returns to your hand." Chester scowled, then smirked.

"That was stupid. I can easily summon him again with my King Dragun's effect!"

"That's why I also activate Destructive Return! Now whenever a monster card returns from the field to the hand, they're removed from play instead!" Chester grumbled something along the lines of "obscure combo" before removing his monster. Fay frowned at this move.

_Was Ethan really that lucky drawing his card? Why would he only put in Destructive Return for one trap card?_ She snapped out of her thoughts as Chester started talking.

"Well, so what? I'll just attack you with my monsters! King Dragun, end this!" Ethan grinned and revealed another face down.

"You've just activated my trap card, Justi-Break! I can only activate this card when you declare an attack on a face up normal monster. Now all face up monsters that aren't normal are destroyed!" Fay looked on suspiciously.

"Say WHAT?" Chester growled as King Dragun and Masked Dragon were destroyed. "Well, I still have Luster Dragon! I'll end my turn." Ethan drew his card, and a few seconds later his Receeding Circuit trap card was destroyed.

"My Receeding Circuit needs 500 life points during my standby phase or else it's destroyed," Ethan explained. "But anyway! I'll play smashing ground to destroy your monster, then summon another Archfiend Soldier and attack you for the win!"

Chester: 0000  
Ethan: 0200

"Fine. Whatever." Chester stormed off. Fay was deep in thought.

_Ethan's not a bad duelist, but...he's not that great either. Just using normal monsters, no matter how many magic or traps you have, is asking for trouble._ She looked down at her cards. _After being beaten by Hayden so easily, I realised it's about finding the balance between concentrated themes and a jumble of cards. Maybe that's why Arlene keeps losing...wonder where she is..._

"RUGBY TACKLE!" Fay screamed and shielded herself, but when she didn't fall to the floor, she lowered her guard to see Ethan laughing. "Ah, I'm just kidding. C'mon, let's go and find you a duelist!"

Fay was eventually coaxed into dueling by Ethan, and won her match by a good margin.

_The revamp really helped. But I can't help thinking about whether or not Ethan was cheating..._ She sighed. _What's wrong with me? Since Arlene vanished I've not been myself. I think I'm getting boring..._ Fay gave a small scream at that, and quickly found a haribrush, brushing frantically in the hope that this would make her more interesting. _At least this is doing something!_ She thought to herself. _If I just stared into space and said nothing all the time I'd turn into Arlene!_ Fay gave another small scream and brushed her hair with renewed vigour.

* * *

The first part of the second arc. For those of you missing the action near the end of the first arc, it will return soon enough. Will Arlene though? Hmmm...please review!

New cards...

Destructive Return  
Continuous Trap  
Image: A member of Goblin Attack Force racing up to the other goblins with a TNT strapped to his stomach.  
Effect: Whenever a monster is returned to the hand, it is sent to the graveyard instead. Pay 500 life points to keep this card on the field. If you do not, this face up card is destroyed.


	11. Stranded with the Enemy

Bryon groaned as he felt the back of his head throb. He cracked open his eyes to find himself lying face down on a sandy beach, though Bryon could tell that it was not Duel Academy Island. Bryon muttered several curses under his breath before shakily standing up.

"Well this is just perfect," he muttered aloud. "Arlene DOESN'T beat me in a duel and I can't even put myself out of my own misery!" He looked out at the sea, and for a while was content to just watch the waves wash slowly onto the shore. He was soon brought to his senses by the feel of someone tapping on his shoulder. Bryon glanced behind him and his jaw dropped.

"Hello, Bryon." Arlene said coldly. She swiftly punched him causing him to pass out.

* * *

"Get up, Bryon. I'm not going to babysit you." Bryon clutched his head in pain as he sat up. He gingerly looked to where Arlene was sitting, where she was avoiding his gaze.

"How did you..." Bryon started before lapsing into silence. When Arlene didn't say anything Bryon tried again. "How did you know where I was?" Arlene snorted.

"You stepped off a cliff. It didn't take a genius to work out that you'd probably be in the water."

"What, so you jumped in after me?"

"Obviously." Bryon was puzzled.

"But WHY? After all, I burned down the Slifer Red Dorm twice, betrayed you, lied to you..."

"Don't remind me."

"So why did you do it?" Arlene shrugged.

"I...didn't really have a reason." There was silence. Arlene struggled to think of something. "Probably so that I could find out more about your organisation." Bryon stood up.

"Forget about it. By even telling you that much I should be dead. I guess I was wrong to count too much on your dueling skills." Arlene scowled. "DON'T give me that look, Arlene! You know as well as I do that you're an amateur! The only student that didn't win in their entry exam..."

"That's all people seem to want to tell me," Arlene growled. "It wears thin after you hear it about a hundred times." Bryon opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it when he saw the look on Arlene's face.

"Well, ARLENE, arguing won't get you back to the island and me somewhere safe. We'll need to build us a boat and get supplies and whatnot." Arlene looked as though she would rather bash her head against a brick wall for a day, but Bryon had started to get very good at ignoring Arlene's protestings. "It's settled then! Just like old times!"

"Other than the fact that I now know you're a traitor."

"Well yes, there's that."

* * *

_This is unbelievable!_ Arlene was scowling as she searched for some food. The island they were on didn't have very many trees or greenery, so she was finding her task difficult. _Why DID I even jump in after Bryon?_ She thought about this for a minute or so. _I guess...ah, who am I kidding? I have absolutely no idea! Maybe I just was so mad after Bryon called me an amateur...mind you, it is kind of true..._ Arlene withdrew from her thoughts and continued her search for food.

* * *

Ethan stretched and rolled out of bed, landing on the floor with a thud. He didn't seem to mind, simply picking himself up off the floor and stretching. He looked out of his window for a few seconds, before finding his uniform. Ethan hunched over and started groping around the room, his eyes half closed from tiredness. He finally found them underneath his bed and shoved them on. His uniform seemed to instill him with energy, for a few seconds later his eyes were wide open and he was racing out of his room to Fay's. Fay groaned as someone pounded on her door. She sat up on her bed and and quickly put her uniform on, putting on an angry frown as she opened the door. Ethan beamed at her.

"Hey, Fay! You ready for school?" Fay continued to scowl at him. "I'll take that as a yes!"

* * *

_Ethan..._ Arlene stared out at the waves as Bryon devoured some of the food she had found.

"ARLENE! I WOULDN'T trust me to save some food for you!" Arlene breathed deeply to try and vent out some of her anger, but found it difficult as Bryon kept talking. "Oh WELL! I'll just eat ALL of this! MMMMM!"

"Bryon. Shut up."

"Oh, I'm SORRY Arlene!" Bryon was being sincere, but Arlene didn't take it that way and punched him again. She grabbed some of the food and stared out at the ocean again, slowly eating. Bryon grumbled and started to mutter complaints.

"You deserved that. And don't think you didn't." Bryon rubbed his neck.

"Violence is never the answer, ARLENE!" Arlene turned round to face him, a cold look in her eyes.

"No, but it makes me feel a whole lot better." Arlene tried to move the conversation on to something else. "How's our raft coming along?" Bryon shrugged.

"You know, I'm not as good at making rafts as I thought I was!" Arlene slanted an eyebrow.

"What does that mean exactly?" Arlene's voice had become dangerous. Bryon shrugged again.

"I guess we can't use a raft to get off the island! Oh WELL!" Arlene glared at him for a few moments before punching him again and walking away. Bryon was dazed for a few seconds, before he picked up Arlene's discarded food and started eating it.

* * *

"Well, that lesson wasn't so bad, eh Fay?" Fay didn't say anything. Ethan waved a hand in front of her, but Fay slapped it away. "What's wrong?"

"You're what's wrong, Ethan." Fay sighed. "Do you not have any other friends?" Ethan looked puzzled.

"Well, yeah! I'm not a loner, Fay!"

"Then how come I don't see you with any of them? It always seems like you're hanging around with me."

"Is that a problem, Fay?" Fay nodded, her eyes shut. "Oh. Sorry. Guess I'll...go somewhere else then." Ethan walked off. Fay sighed and slapped her forehead.

_Just great, Fay! Just great!_ She looked down at the ground. _But he has been hanging around with me a lot. I wonder if he was telling the truth..._ She frowned. _Why should I care? Ugh! Ever since I met Arlene I've changed! Maybe I'll go and brush my hair again...or talk to my normal friends or SOMETHING!_ Fay quickly walked off.

* * *

"Umm, Arlene?" Arlene said nothing. Bryon cleared his throat. "ARRRRRLLLLEEEE..."

"I HEARD YOU!" Arlene snapped. Bryon paused.

"I'm sorry, y'know, for making you upset." Arlene sighed.

"Bryon?" Arlene asked. Bryon became more alert.

"Yes, ARLENE?"

"What made you want to join an organisation that burns down islands?" Bryon thought for a second, before deciding to answer.

"Well, that was a one off thing. Begia isn't so bad, once you get to know the people..."

"The organisation's called Begia?" Bryon held a hand up to his mouth in shock.

"Aww NOO! They're going to kill me for telling you that!"

"I thought you said they weren't so bad?" Bryon stopped talking. "Besides, you seem to think that I'm going to tell everyone I meet." Bryon was embarrassed.

"N...no, it's just policy, you know? Anyways, the real reason I came here was that the raft's finished." Arlene was confused.

"I thought you said you couldn't make one." Bryon beamed.

"Turns out I did! So, you can make your way back to the island! It's west of here."

"Are you not coming?" Bryon shook his head.

"I'm going to lay low for a while." Arlene understood. As she walked towards the beach, she looked over her shoulder and saw Bryon gazing sadly at her. She stopped.

"Hey, Bryon." He looked at her intently. "I can't forgive you just like that. But I don't hate you anymore. It's just a dislike now." She continued walking back to the beach, smiling slightly. She didn't know that Bryon was smiling as well.


	12. Brought Together and Apart

Yay! Now that the introduction to the arc is out of the way, we can get right into the action! Don't forget to review after reading the chapter!

* * *

Erick Guerra grumbled as he walked through a bustling city. He would turn his head every so often and scowl at someone with a crazy hairstyle before fidgeting with his hair.

_I hate this. Begia should be ruling Duel Academy Island by now! We didn't count on a traitor. That Bryon Perez went missing after the incident, so it was probably him. Then again, logic isn't the best thing to apply to something like this._ He turned his head upwards at the sight of someone with a very large mohawk. _That's really taking it too far! Ugh, but anyway, I'd..._ Erick jumped as his phone started ringing. He quickly rushed into an alley and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Erick Guerra!" Erick became serious at that point, though it was clear that the person on the other end was not. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, er...I've been, good sir."

"Nasty setback with the island plan, hmm?" Erick started sweating.

"Uh...sir I can explai..."

"No need, Erick! No need! We're already on it! Unfortunate that there was a spy, but we know it's that boy who helped to burn down the Yellow Dorms, whatever his name was. But don't tell him I said that!"

"Of...course not, sir."

"Good good! Now, you remember that chemical we'd been working on?" Erick turned white as the person on the other end became deadly serious.

"Yes sir!" Erick answered quickly.

"It's ready, and I want you to inject a certain student at Duel Academy with it." Erick nodded.

"Who is it, sir?"

"His name is Chester Golding. I also want you to update his deck with the Fate cards." Erick nodded.

"Understood, sir. He'll be ready in less than twenty four hours." The line went dead.

_Poor kid. Still, we need to use it on someone._

_

* * *

_

**The next day...**

Fay stretched in her bed and she grinned as she realised it was the weekend. She attempted to get back to sleep, but her stomach started to cramp, so reluctantly she got up.

_Maybe I'll go and see Jasmine today...or maybe Colette...or Ethan..._ Fay's stomach felt uncomfortable as she remembered talking with Ethan yesterday. _Best give him some space. Dammit! Now I don't feel like seeing anyone! I'll just go to the beach!_ Fay was annoyed at her lack of interest in talking to people, but figured it was just her stomach. She slowly walked down to the beach. When she got there her eyes bulged at the sight in front of her.

ARLENE!

Fay ran up to Arlene and gave her a big hug which caused Arlene to choke.

"I wasn't expecting a welcoming party." Arlene noted. Fay scratched the back of her head.

"I wasn't WAITING for you, Arlene! I wasn't even expecting you to come here today I..."

"Calm down." Fay felt annoyed that Arlene was treating her like a child, but was glad to have her back all the same.

"So where did you go? And what happened to Bryon?" Arlene's face darkened.

"Come on, let's walk back to the dorm. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

"So...Bryon...burned down the dorms?"

"No. Bryon only burned down the Red Dorm. There are four more students who helped." Fay gave a small scream.

"So, it could be anyone!" She was hysteric. "It could be Ethan! It could be..." Arlene had stopped.

"Did you just say Ethan?" Fay nodded. Arlene suddenly gave a look of wonder. "Do you know where he is? Can you take me to him?" Fay nodded slowly, surprised at the sudden burst of emotion from Arlene. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Fay jumped and started walking towards the Obelisk Blue Dorms with Arlene.

"How do you...?" Fay started.

"Less talk more walking." Fay was about to say something else, but the look on Arlene's face shut her up. They said nothing until they reached the dorms, where Ethan seemed to be looking around for someone. He spotted Fay and started running up to her, then stopped when he saw Arlene. Arlene was staring straight at him, her mouth open. Then a single tear slid down Arlene's cheek and she raced towards Ethan and hugged him. Ethan was initially stunned, but when Arlene started hugging him he came to his senses and hugged back. Fay slanted her head to one side at the scene.

"Ummm...mind filling me in here?" Ethan and Arlene suddenly seemed to notice Fay and they beamed at her.

"Oh! Of course! Arlene's my sister!" Ethan told her. Fay gawped at them.

"What. You two are siblings." They nodded and broke the hug. "Unbelievable." Arlene and Ethan's reunion was cut short by a student running.

"Chester's gone mad! Chester's gone mad!" He sobbed. Ethan perked up at this.

"Chester? As in the Chester I dueled? HEY! LITTLE MAN! Where is Chester now?" The boy was still crying.

"H...he's outside the Duel Academy b...building." Then he ran off. Arlene looked at Ethan and they both nodded, running to the Duel Academy Building. Fay hesitated for a moment before following them.

* * *

Ethan was stunned by Chester's transformation. Before Ethan had trouble remembering anything about his appearence. Now he could not forget. Chester was a small boy, but now gave the impression that he was very tall, almost like an aura. His eyes seemed hollow and lifeless and were a dull grey. He no longer had any hair on his head, and now had a strange green symbol on his forehead. Around him were the bodies of a student and Proffessor Macias, limp on the ground. Chester bellowed at a crowd of students who took a hasty step backwards at his words.

"Who's next? I need to seal one more person's fate! Who will it be?" Arlene shuddered.

_He reminds me of Hayden..._ Ethan looked scared, but walked up to Chester.

"I'll be your opponent." Ethan announced. Chester gave a malicious grin.

"Very well. Let's duel!"

Ethan: 4000  
Chester: 4000

"I'll go first!" Announced Ethan. "I'll summon Vorse Raider (1900/1200) to the field in attack mode and call it a turn." Chester picked up his card.

"Let's get rid of your monster with my Smashing Ground card, shall we?" A giant fist obliterated Ethan's monster. "And next I'll summon my Gray Wing (1300/0700) to the field! Next, I'll use its effect, discarding one card from my hand so that my monster can attack twice! Now Gray Wing, attack!"

Ethan: 1400  
Chester: 4000

"Now I'll play the magic card, Preparations for the End! I pay half of my life points and remove from play all cards with Fate in their name from my hand, deck or graveyard!" Chester removed six cards from his deck.

Ethan: 1400  
Chester: 2000

"That'll be all." Ethan frowned.

_Fate cards? What do they do? Hmm...I'd better finish this duel before I find out!"_

"I summon my Gemini Elf (1900/0900) to the field, and it'll destroy your Gray Wing!" Chester smirked as his monster was destroyed.

Ethan: 1400  
Chester: 1400

_Man, of all the luck, my hand's full of monsters!_ Ethan thought to himself.

"I end my turn." Chester picked up his card and grinned.

"I'd like to show you a card that was recently introduced to my deck. It's called Dragon's Pain, and here's how it works. I can remove up to three dragon types from my graveyard, and inflict 500 points of damage to you for each one. So, I remove my Gray Wing that you destroyed, and my Masked Dragon (1400/1100) that I discarded to inflict 1000 points of damage!" Shadowy replicas of Chesters monsters flew straight and Ethan, causing him to gasp with pain as they struck.

Ethan: 0400  
Chester: 1400

"I'll end my turn by setting a monster." Ethan was calm as he picked up his card, but gave an inward curse as he drew another monster card.

_Of all the times my deck decides to churn out normal monsters it's now...oh well. May as well attack._

"I'll attack your face down with Gemini Elf!" Ethan's monster went to attack but was knocked back by a giant dragon.

Ethan: 0300  
Chester: 1400

"You ran into my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave (1300/2000) so no luck for you!" Ethan ended his turn.

"Now, Ethan. It's time to draw this to a close. I'll switch my Dragon Dwelling in the Cave to attack mode and summon my Luster Dragon (1900/1600)! Luster dragon, attack Gemini Elf, and Dragon Dwelling in the Cave will end this!" Ethan looked stunned as his monster was destroyed and his life points reduced to 0.

Ethan: 0000  
Chester: 1400

_What happened to Chester to change him so much in such a short space of time?_ Ethan thought. He thought that was the end of the duel, but suddenly five holograms of cards appeared on Chester's side of the field.

"And now to decide what will happen next!" Chester announced. "You remember me sending some cards out of play with my Preparations for the End? Now it's time they came on to the field!" Chester looked monstrous now, with the green mark on his forehead pulsing. "The first one that needed to be activated was a card simply known as Fate. It can only activate from my out of play zone, and only when a player loses. I then select up to 5 other cards with Fate in their names from my out of play zone, and the loser has to randomly choose one. Beware though," Chester warned, his eyes no longer holding a trace of humanity, "your life could be on the line!" Ethan laughed and looked at the crowd's faces, but none of them smiled. They had all seen the power of the Fate cards.

_Is he for real? My life on the line? Yeah right._ Arlene looked impassive on the side lines, but deep down she was afraid.

_This guy sounds serious, but he can't be...losing your life? It's only a card game..._ After facing Hayden however, Arlene had difficulty believing that.

"Yeah, yeah, this is really funny, Chester." Chester looked insane at this point, with a freakish grin and his green mark.

"You think this is a game? What do you think happened to that student and your beloved teacher?" At this point one of the students found the courage to say something.

"How could you do that to them? What had they ever done?" Chester's grin was replaced by a furious scowl.

"That STUDENT was a traitor! If it weren't for him the plan would be right on schedule! And your teacher...I need to seal the fates of three people! Now, Ethan! Pick your card!" Ethan looked at the backs of the five cards.

"I pick the middle one." Chester gave a high pitched laugh that sent shivers down everyone's spines. The card turned to reveal a picture with a man holding his head in agony as a green beam of light shot forth from it.

"So unfortunate," Chester crooned. "The traitor got the death card, and the teacher got the one that sends her into a deep sleep. But you, Ethan...you picked the card known as The Infection of Fate! Now, students, watch as this boy becomes infected!" Ethan was suddenly writhing on the floor as a dark green substance emerged from the card and sunk into his skin. There was a burst of green light from Ethan's forehead. Ethan screamed at the top of his lungs, and Arlene looked on mortified as her brother continued screaming.

_This is real! No! Ethan can't go! Not when we just found each other!_ The screaming stopped and Ethan turned round. His eyes had become the same as Chesters. He gave Arlene a wicked grin, then looked up at the sky as a helicopter approached. A ladder was thrown down, and Ethan and Chester picked up the bodies of the student and Macias before climbing up the ladder. The helicopter flew off, leaving a mass of confused and frightened students. There was no one more affected by this than Arlene, who let tears fall down and screams ring out.

* * *

New cards...

Preparations for the End  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A group of people carrying boxes while up in the sky a meteor speeds towards them.  
Effect: Pay half of your life points. Remove from play from your hand, deck and graveyard all cards with "Fate" in their name.

Dragon's Pain  
Normal Magic  
Image: A Dragon that looks in pain with a sword sticking out of its leg.  
Effect: Remove up to 3 Dragon type monsters from play. For each one you remove, inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent.

Fate  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A Tarot Reader about to turn over a card.  
Effect: This card can only be activated from your out of play zone, and only when a player's life points are reduced to 0. Select up to 5 cards from your out of play zone with Fate in their name and place them face down between you and your opponent's field. Your opponent then selects one of these cards.

The Infection of Fate  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A man holding his head in agony as a beam of green light shines on his forehead.  
Effect: If this card is chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent is now infected.


	13. Goodbye, Duel Academy

"I'm going after him." Arlene didn't even need to think about her choice - Ethan was her brother and she had to help him. Fay was having none of it.

"Arlene! You can't go after Ethan! You don't even know where he went and it's really dangerous and it wont just be Chester and you don't know how to cure him!"

"Is that all?" Arlene asked, not seeming to care. Fay shrieked at the top of her lungs. Thankfully the two girls were in Fay's room so she didn't embarrass herself.

"Arlene, you just can't! Begia's dangerous!" Arlene looked at her curiously.

"How do you know that Chester was infected by Begia? He didn't say who he was working for." Fay looked stunned. Arlene got up and stared at Fay. "Do you know something about Begia?" Fay bit her lip and scratched the back of her head.

"I...I..." she sighed. "I do." Arlene folded her arms and waited for Fay to say something. "What?"

"What do you know about Begia?" Arlene asked. Fay shook her head, causing Arlene to lose it. "DON'T YOU SHAKE YOUR HEAD AT ME! THEY TOOK MY BROTHER! THEY INFECTED HIM WITH WHATEVER GOT CHESTER, AND JUST AFTER WE FINALLY FOUND EACH OTHER! SO YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME _EVERYTHING_ YOU KNOW ABOUT BEGIA, OR ELSE!" Fay had recoiled, but moved closer to Arlene apprehensively when Arlene sank to the floor and burst into tears. "It's _NOT_ fair!" Arlene continued. "I only saw him for a few moments before he got taken away!"

"H...how did you two ever get separated anyway?" Fay dared to ask. Arlene looked up at her, eyes shining with tears.

"He just got up one day and left. He never wrote or anything like that, so I never knew why he ran away. I spent two years trying to find him. Then I found out that he was at Duel Academy in his third year, so I convinced my parents to let me come here. I'd never duelled properly before the entrance examination." Fay had a look of awe on her face.

"You'd never dueled before coming here?" Arlene nodded. "Wow! You were able to get into Duel Academy after your first duel!" She thought for a moment. "Okay. We'll go after Begia. You and me. But right now I need to tell you some things about them." Arlene nodded gratefully, and hastily wiped away her tears, becoming her old self.

"Begia isn't really that bad of an organisation as far as things go," Fay began, then smiled sadly. "I know it doesn't seem that way after what they've done..."

"It's funny," Arlene interrupted. "Bryon said the same thing." Fay nodded and continued.

"Begia's supposed to be a really quiet organisation. They've never done anything like this before, so I don't know what it is they're planning. Begia's very concerned with family: everyone looks out for everyone else and everyone's important, and that hasn't changed by the looks of how they burned the island..." She paused. "If what Bryon told you before was true, there are still three people from Begia on the island. They might want to burn down the island again if something's not done." Arlene's eyes hardened.

"Then let's deal with them." Fay shook her head.

"We don't even know who they are. And we're not killers. We'd have to rely on them removing the Fate cards from play and then beating them to do any real damage."

"Do all of the members of Begia have the Fate cards?" Fay shrugged.

"Even that's a guess. I've never seen any of them use the Fate cards before, but with all the changes they've undergone I wouldn't put it past them." Arlene thought for a moment before coming up with an idea.

"We could ask Bryon who the other three members of Begia are." Fay shook her head again.

"No we couldn't. Like I said before, Begia treats everyone as family. He wouldn't tell us. Weren't you listening?"

"I was listening. Still, it was worth a shot." There was silence. "So what's the plan?" Fay looked exasperated.

"Did you listen to anything? What do you think we've been talking about?"

"So we're going after Ethan then?" Fay nodded, glad that Arlene had digested the information without asking for more. "Alright then. We'll get supplies and leave in the morning." Arlene turned to leave, but Fay stopped her.

"Wait! How are we going to get off the island?"

"We'll take the raft Bryon made." Fay looked surprised.

"We can't use that! It took us three days to get to Duel Academy in the first place, and that was with a powerful ship! It'd take us ages to get back!" Arlene sighed.

"Then I guess we can take the boat that brought us." Fay was about to speak but Arlene interrupted her. "It's taking home any students that want to leave tomorrow."

"Why didn't you suggest that in the first place?"

"I don't handle ships so well." Fay's eyes widened.

"Oooooh! Okay then, we leave tomorrow by the ship!" Arlene turned to leave again, but Fay stopped her.

"What is it this time?" Arlene asked.

"You don't have a room anymore since you went missing. Looks like you'll be sharing a room with me tonight!"

"Joy." Arlene muttered sarcastically.

* * *

The two girls had boarded the ship in the morning. Fay decided to walk around while Arlene watched Duel Academy Island fade into the distance.

_I probably wont be seeing the island for a while. But when we get back we'll have to find the Begia members and get them off the island._ She sighed as she remembered coming to the academy. _We had to duel to do anything on this ship, but that's not the case now. Maybe I'll go and get some cards. Couldn't hurt to make my deck better before we take on the big guys._ Arlene was surprised to see Fay at the card stall, selling all of her old fairy deck cards and buying new cards with the money.

"What happened to your fairy deck?" Arlene asked.

"It reminded me too much of bad times, especially the duel with Hayden. Even with a revamp it didn't feel right, sooo I made a new deck!" She held up some cards to Arlene's face. "Maybe we can have a duel later!"

"Yeah, maybe." Fay walked off, leaving Arlene to look at the cards on sale. Her eyes widened when they came to a small group of Balance Warrior cards for sale.

_There's Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud, and some of the other fusions as well. Have I gotten over my duel with Hayden enough to get the card?_ She thought for a moment. _If I'm scared to even buy it I'll be stuck being scared by Hayden. I need to get over it._ Arlene bought some of the cards and walked off, slotting them into her deck as she went.

* * *

Hayden watched the ship leave Duel Academy Island.

_Not many students left on the Academy. And with that traitor gone, the rest of us can afford to torch the island again._ Hayden's phone started ringing.

"Hello? Hayden speaking."

"Hayden, this is Guerra. We've heard from Adela and Clayton that more students have left after Chester beat some students. I also understand that we have a new infected recruit."

"That's correct, Mr. Guerra." Hayden heard a grunt of approval from the other end of the line.

"How many students are left exactly? More than 50?"

"There's 60 students and 5 teachers left on the island." There was a pause.

"In that case, here's the plan. Adela is going to destroy the rest of the ships and Clayton will take care of the aerial means of escape. For now, your job is to use the Fate cards on the 5 teachers on the island, and then the students. The other two will help you after they've done their job. You will begin as soon as this call is finished."

"Yes, sir."

"Good luck." Hayden hung up and made his way to the Duel Academy Building.

_I've been stuck on this island for far too long. It's time to move the plan along._

_

* * *

_

"So, how do we know where to find Ethan?" Fay asked. They had docked on the mainland and were moving through a large city. Arlene stopped dead in her tracks.

"I thought you knew where we would find them."

"I thought YOU knew where to find them." Arlene growled and started walking again.

"I can't believe this." Fay caught up with her and started talking.

"Relax! I'm sure we'll get some hints about where to find them! They're going to be battling some people and using the Fate cards so we'll find them!"

"You'd better be right." Arlene told Fay as they kept walking, unaware that someone was following them.

* * *

Fay and Arlene had found a relatively cheap hotel to stay for the night. Arlene had immediately gone to sleep, but Fay wasn't tired.

_This feels so strange, being away from the Academy. I'll get to sleep eventually..._ There was a light knocking on the hotel room door. Fay jumped and stared at the door. After a few moments the knocks came again, slightly more urgently. Fay walked hesitantly up to the door, wondering who it could be. She opened it to find a woman dressed a long grey coat, a hat and dark glasses.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep," the woman said in a thick french accent. "I 'eard you talking about ze Fate cards, and I may be able to help you." Fay perked up.

"Okay! I'll just go and wake up Arlene..." the woman stopped her.

"No. Eet ees dangerous enough zat one of you would know. Two of you would be disastrous."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I will explain everything. But for now you need to get dressed and follow me."

* * *

The woman lead Fay to a deserted alley.

"Zis should be safe enough. Now, let us duel." Fay was puzzled.

"Duel? How is that going to tell me anything?" The woman sighed.

"Will you stop asking zese questions? I will explain as we duel. Eet ees easier zis way." Fay shrugged.

?: 4000  
Fay: 4000

"Umm, what's your name?" Fay asked. The woman silenced her.

"I will play ze magic card Preparations for ze End. Now I pay half my life points to remove from my hand, deck or graveyard all cards with Fate in zeir name!"

?: 2000  
Fay: 4000

"You...you're one of Begia, aren't you?" The woman smirked.

"I am amazed zat a gullible girl like you could be giving us so much trouble. Even on Duel Academy Island. After we burned eet and chased you, you still found a way to escape. But no more! Now zat I have played ze Fate cards, if you surrender or walk away before the duel ees finished zey activate! So now you must duel for your life!" The woman took off her hat and glasses to reveal luminous white hair and dark eyes. "Eet wont hurt to tell you my name now. I am Marie Machaud. Now I will continue my turn, by setting two cards face down. Make your move!" Fay picked up her card.

"Alright then, I..."

"I activate my face down card!" Marie announced. "Eet ees a card called Destiny Board. At ze end of each of your turns, I place ze next Spirit Message card from my hand or deck to ze field. So when you end your turn eet will be Spirit Message I. Once Spirit Message I, N, A and L are on ze field along with zis card, I win ze game, so you 'ad better be prepared!" Fay looked on as a giant letter appeared on Marie's field, which would soon seal her fate.

* * *

Another member of Begia reveals themself...and if any of you people reading would like to submit a character to swell the organisation's ranks, simply write the following details into a review:

Name, age, gender, appearence, character traits, background and deck type. If you want them to be infected as well, put that in after all the other details. Until the next part!


	14. The Chains that Bind Us

"Alright then, my move!" Fay announced, picking up her card.

_I hoped I would be able to try out my deck properly before getting thrown into the deep end but nooo! I have to be challenged by someone who wants to "seal my Fate" and is going to win in 5 turns unless I do something! Ugh, this pressure is not good for me._

"I'll start by activating my magic card, Bait Doll! It allows me to force the activation of one of your face down cards, and if the timing is wrong, your card is destroyed! So let's see what your face down is!" Marie gave a shrug as her Sakuretsu Armour was destroyed. "Even better, after the card has resolved its effect, Bait Doll goes back into my deck, so you'll be seeing it again!"

"Your little Bait Doll may have a special trick, but zis changes nothing! My Destiny Board is face up, so you cannot destroy eet, and once 5 of your turns are gone, I win!" Fay gave a wide grin.

"I know. That's why I'm now activating Mystical Space Typhoon, allowing me to destroy your Destiny Board!" A cyclone encircled the giant letter floating on Marie's side of the field, only to retract a few seconds later with the letter still there. "What? Your card should have been destroyed! What's going on?" Marie smirked and showed Fay a card in her hand.

"I activated ze effect of my 'erald of Green Light!" Fay's eyes widened in shock as she recognised the card.

_She's using Herald of Green Light? That means she's using a Fairy deck just like I used to have!_ Marie had not noticed Fay's reaction as she was too busy explaining the card's effect.

"My monster 'as a unique effect. By discarding 'erald of Green Light and one other Fairy type monster from my 'and, I can negate ze activation of your magic card! Even better, I can only use zis effect on your turn! Now, are you finished?" Fay shook her head.

"I summon Sangan (1000/0600) to the field, and it will attack you directly!" The three eyed fiend curled up into a ball and leapt at Marie.

Marie: 1000  
Fay: 4000

"I'll finish by setting one card face down."

"And now Spirit Message I joins my Destiny Board!" Marie announced. "You only 'ave three turns left. I suggest you use zem wisely. My move!" Marie picked up her card. "I will play Graceful Charity, allowing me to draw three cards and zen discard two from my 'and." Marie did so. "Now I play Celestial Transformation! Zis allows me to special summon a Fairy type monster from my 'and, but eet ees destroyed at ze end of zis turn and it 'as only 'alf of eets attack points. So I summon my Majestic Mech - Ohka (2400/1400 - 1200/1400)!"

"Wait. Why didn't you just normal summon it? Majestic Mech - Ohka's effect means you can summon it without a tribute. It would have had full attack points and still been destroyed at the end of the turn." Marie gave an evil grin that made Fay recoil.

"Because, little girl, I am now activating Inferno Reckless Summon, which I can only activate when a monster with 1500 or less attack points is special summoned to my side of ze field. Do you see now why I used Celestial Transformation? I can summon two more Majestic Mech - Ohkas at full strength!"

"NO!" Fay yelled, quickly calculating how much damage she would take.

_She can wipe out all of my life points with this! And I can't use Inferno Reckless Summon's side effect that would let me summon more monsters, because I only have one Sangan! Damn she's smart!_

"Zis is ze end. Now my monsters, attack her and end zis duel!"

Marie: 1000  
Fay: 4000

"What? Why were you not destroyed?" Fay was breathing heavily.

_That...was too close._

"I activated my trap card Gravity Bind, meaning that level 4 or higher monsters can't attack." Marie shrugged.

"Eet ees of little consequence. My Destiny Board will still finish this. I end my turn, so my weakest Majestic Mech - Ohka ees destroyed." Fay picked up her card.

"I'll set a card face down, switch my Sangan to defense mode and set a monster as well then end my turn." Destiny Board activated, with Spirit Message N being added to the field.

"Two turns left," Marie announced. "I shall end my turn."

_Please be something good, please be something good..._ Fay thought to herself as she reached for her card. It wasn't. Fay cursed inwardly and ended her turn, letting Spirit Message A appear.

"I did not zink eet would be zis easy!" Marie laughed. "When I 'eard from my superiors 'ow you kept escaping us, I zought eet would be much more difficult to find you!"

"Why does Begia want to capture me so badly?" Fay asked. "What's so special about me?" Marie shook her head.

"Eet ees your final move. For your sake and mine, you 'ad better 'ope zat you don't get ze Death of Fate card." Fay picked up her final card. "I do 'ave one last question for you, Fay. What kind of deck are you using? My superiors told me eet would be a Fairy deck, so I created one myself, but you have changed eet." Fay nodded.

"That Fairy deck reminded me too much of losing to people like you. You've been chasing me for years, dueling me and beating me and always making me run! This deck is different. This is the deck which will help me beat people like you." Marie shook her head slowly.

"I am sorry little girl, but you 'ave lost. Eet ees as clear as day." Fay smiled sadly.

"My new deck is all about chains. The bigger the chain, the more I benefit." Marie was curious.

"Chains? You mean magic and trap chains?" Fay nodded. "But I 'ave not seen you use a single one zroughout our duel!"

"I got a bad opening hand. But now I have the cards to defeat you! I reveal my face down card Chain Detonation! This inflicts 500 points of damage to you! Then I activate from my hand Chain Strike, which I can only activate at chain link 2 or higher. Chain strike inflicts 400 points of damage to you multiplied by its position in the chain, so in this case it deals 800 points of damage, so in total you lose 1300 life points!"

Marie: 0000  
Fay: 4000

Marie had fear in her eyes for the first time since Fay had seen her. Marie looked like a lost child as the fate cards were now choosing HER fate. The 5 cards were laid out in front of her, waiting for Marie to choose. She hesitated, then pointed to the far left card. It revealed itself to be...

The Death of Fate.

The picture on the card was horrific enough: a woman was dangling from the air as though strangled by a noose, all the colour drained from her. In real life it was worse. Marie gave several loud screams as she was lifted from the floor, struggling against an invisible noose that was tightening around her neck. After a minute or so the screaming stopped and Marie crumpled to the floor. Fay had been unable to look away and had been screaming with Marie. When she crumpled to the floor, so did Fay, shaking violently and curled up into a ball. She was vaguely aware of a voice that sounded like Arlene calling her name before she passed out.

* * *

Arlene had woken up to find that Fay had gone. She had left the hotel when she heard screams and found Fay and a strange woman who was clearly dead. Arlene had carried Fay back up to their Hotel Room, telling anyone who asked that it had been a long day and Fay had fallen asleep. Arlene decided to join her.

_It would be no good asking her about it just now. The memory would be too fresh._ She looked at Fay, who looked peaceful before going to bed.

* * *

Fay woke up early the next morning, consumed by the events of the previous night.

_She looked so scared when she lost, and I was so helpless...I wonder if there's any way to stop the Fate cards from working. I don't want anyone else to die because of them, or worse..._ She suddenly had a vivid image of Chester and Ethan leering at her. She shook her head quickly to get rid of it. _How are we going to get Chester and Ethan back? I've never seen anything like it before..._ Fay rolled over and tried to get to sleep again, though she knew it would be hopeless.

* * *

There are still vacancies for anyone wanting to submit a character to swell the ranks of Begia. Just put in the following details into a review:

Name, age, gender, appearence, character traits, background, deck type and where you want them to be situated (Duel Academy or outside world). They can also be infected as well, just put that after all the other details. Thanks and keep reading!

New cards...

The Death of Fate  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A woman dangling from the air as though strangled by a noose.  
Effect: If this card was chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent dies in 1 minute.


	15. The Second Test

Hi everyone! Sorry about the one week off, but now I'm back! Just so you don't get confused later on in this chapter, I recently edited the first chapter, replacing Dark Magician with an original creation known as Abyss Magician. Also thanks to bailkatanas for the character Caleb. Enjoy!

* * *

Arlene and Fay had left their hotel and were now on the move again. Arlene was getting increasingly frustrated by their lack of progress - after all, they had no idea where to go. At least, Arlene didn't.

"Fay." Fay had been walking in front of Arlene. She turned and saw Arlene leaning against a wall, her eyes unfocused.

"What's wrong?" Arlene continued to look at the ground. "Arlene?"

"How did you get involved with Begia in the first place?"

_Oh great!_ Fay thought to herself. _Just when I thought Arlene couldn't be more annoying she asks me THAT! Well if she expects me to tell the truth she can forget it!_

"They've been chasing me for as long as I can remember. They just never told me why." Fay had to struggle to stop herself from giving herself away by scratching the back of her head. Arlene looked at her for a few moments, and Fay had the feeling that she could see through her. Then her eyes returned to normal.

"Look, Fay. I don't want to have to chase at nothing all day. I just want to find my brother, and it stands to reason that at some point he'd return to their base, right?" Fay nodded. "So. Let me ask you. Have you ever been there?" Fay nodded again, slower this time. "Where is it?" Fay shook her head. Arlene had to clench and unclench her fists several times to get rid of her excess anger. "Why can't you tell me?"

"I was blindfolded, so I couldn't see where it was." Arlene's anger seeped out of her. What Fay was saying made sense.

"Do you remember anything about what the inside was like?" Fay looked thoughtful for a few moments.

"Ummm...it had a lot of flashing machines...aaaannndd...that's it." Arlene's anger returned, though she did her best to hide it. Not very well it seemed, as Fay looked at her with a quizzical look.

"I'm fine!" Arlene snapped, but Fay shook her head and pointed behind her. Turning round, Arlene's jaw dropped as she saw the examiner who'd dueled her for the entrance exam to Duel Academy!

"Hello, Arlene." She said in a brisk voice. The examiner inclined her head to Fay, who still looked confused. "I was just looking for someone to duel." Arlene and Fay glanced at each other, then stared at the examiner. "Where are my manners?" she said after the two girls had stared at her for a minute. "You can call me Mendoza. Now, how about that duel?"

"You're one of _them_ aren't you?" Arlene snapped at Mendoza. She shrugged.

"And if I am? You're not exactly going to get away before you've dueled me, are you?" Arlene turned to walk away, but found herself blocked by an invisible barrier.

"What...?" Fay started.

"The Fate cards don't allow duelists to refuse a challenge. Now, who will it be? Ms. Ramirez, or the other girl, Fay?" Fay took a step backwards. Arlene sighed and brought out her Duel Disk from her backpack.

* * *

"Stand aside, Clayton! This job is for me!" The boy called Clayton shook his head vigourously.

"For the last time, Caleb, the job was assigned to ME! You need to keep your nose out of other people's business!" Caleb's dark brown eyes stared at Clayton with a look of hate.

"It's MY business! An amateur like you would mess up this job, so I need to take charge of it before you can!" Clayton turned red. He was preparing himself for a fight against Caleb, one that he knew he would win - Clayton was built like a boxer. Caleb smirked drew himself up to his true height and looked down at Clayton. "You want to settle this, then let's do it in the appropriate way." A gust of wind swept by them at this point, buffeting Clayton's long blonde hair but having little effect on Caleb's short spiky hair. "Let Fate decide!"

"I shouldn't even be agreeing to this!" Snapped Clayton as he activated his Duel Disk. "I've been on Duel Academy Island far longer than you, and I was entrusted with this mission! Still, if it'll shut you up then it's worth it!" Caleb snorted and begun the duel.

* * *

Mendoza: 4000  
Arlene: 4000

"I'll go first, shall I?" Mendoza announced. "I activate Different Dimension Charge, allowing me to remove 2 cards from my deck to the out of play zone, so I'll choose two of the Fate cards!" Fay backed further away from the duel as memories of her duel with Marie resurfaced.

_No...it can't happen again!_ Mendoza continued with her turn.

"I'll now summon Apprentice of the Abyss (1800/1800) in attack mode and play Spell Absorption, so whenever a magic card activates I gain 500 life points. Also, my monster now gains a spell counter! I'll finish with a face down card." Arlene drew her card.

"I'll summon my Balance Warrior Gyunn (1600/1400) to the field in attack mode, and equip it with Shadow Cannon! This increases Gyunn's attack by 700 and gives it a Dark Aura (1600/1400 - 2300/1400)!" Mendoza nodded approvingly as her life points went up thanks to Spell Absorption.

Mendoza: 4500  
Arlene: 4000

"Well, it seems as though you have your Balance Warrior's abilities under control, though Hayden tells me that you lost your cool demeamour when you saw one of their fusion forms." Arlene bristled at this, but said nothing. "Well? Are you going to attack me or not? After all, my monster has 2 spell counters on it and it only needs one more!"

_It's obvious that she has a trap set up. If I don't attack now, then she'll have it for another turn!_

"Alright, Gyunn! Attack her Apprentice of the Abyss." Mendoza gave the smallest of smirks.

"I reveal my trap, Astral Barrier! Now instead of attacking my monster, you attack me directly!"

"What...?" Arlene muttered as Mendoza's monster was protected.

Mendoza: 2200  
Arlene: 4000

"Why did you do that?" Mendoza did not seem to hear the question.

"Are you finished, Ms. Ramirez?"

"You'll need to answer my question." Mendoza sighed.

"That will become apparent when your turn ends." Arlene set a card and finished her turn. "Good. Now I activate another Different Dimension Charge, allowing me to send 2 more Fate cards out of play. Also my life points increase by 500 thanks to my magic card and my monster gains its third counter!"

Mendoza: 2700  
Arlene: 4000

"Now, it's time to bring out a monster you should find familiar. I remove all 3 of my spell counters from my monster and send it to the graveyard, allowing me to summon from my hand, deck or graveyard...my Abyss Magician (2500/0300)!" Mendoza's monster disintegrated and was replaced by the Abyss Magician. Arlene shuddered as she remembered seeing the monster in her first duel with Mendoza, and its features hadn't changed. It still had the hollow eyes and no mouth and claws for hands and feet. Fay screamed at the monster, who turned to her and gave her a piercing stare. Fay fell back and curled up into a shivering ball.

"That thing was beaten before, it can be beaten again." Arlene announced. Mendoza laughed at this.

"If you think you can, then by all means do! Abyss Magician, attack her Balance Warrior!" Arlene smiled grimly and revealed her face down.

"I activate Aura Switch! This allows all Dark Auras on the field to become Light Auras and all Light Auras to become Dark Auras!" The Dark Aura circling Gyunn shimmered and was replaced by a Light Aura. "And Gyunn's Light Aura ability increases its attack points by 400 (2300/1400 - 2700/1400)!" Gyunn fired a bolt of energy from its Shadow Cannon which smashed into the Abyss Magician.

Mendoza: 2500  
Arlene: 4000

"Well done, Ms. Ramirez." Mendoza told Arlene sarcastically. "Unfortunately, my monster's effect activates now! Seeing as it was destroyed in battle, by removing it from play I get to summon another Abyss monster from my deck with 500 more attack points, so I'll choose another Abyss Magician (2500/0300 - 3000/0300)! Since it's still the battle phase I'll get my new monster to destroy yours!" Abyss Magician slashed at Gyunn shattering it into several pieces.

Mendoza: 2500  
Arlene: 3700

"It's your turn." Arlene drew a card.

"I play Smashing Ground, allowing me to destroy a monster on your field with the highest defence! And since there's only one..." Mendoza's life points went up as a giant fist appeared from the sky and destroyed Abyss Magician. Just then Arlene felt a large jolt of pain as her life points went down.

Mendoza: 3000  
Arlene: 1200

"Silly child!" Mendoza chided Arlene. "When my Abyss Magician is destroyed by a card effect, you take damage equal to its original attack and I get to summon another Abyss monster from my deck provided I remove the monster destroyed by a card effect from play. So I'll bring out my third Abyss Magician!" Arlene looked on in horror as another Abyss Magician appeared. "Have you understood yet? Whenever an Abyss monster is removed from the field I get to bring out another one with either a beneficial effect for me or a negative one for you! All I have to do is lose 100 life points for every Abyss monster in my out of play zone at the end of your turn, but that wont be an issue the way you're dealing with things!"

_Dammit! Her strategy means that she always has a monster on the field!_ Arlene growled and continued her turn, determined to beat Mendoza this time.

* * *

New cards...

Different Dimension Charge  
Normal Magic  
Image: D.D Warrior Lady looking up at a large cylinder with sparks of electricity within it.  
Effect: Select up to 2 cards from your deck and remove them from play.

Apprentice of the Abyss  
ATK: 1800 DEF: 1800  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 4  
Type: Spellcaster  
Image: A magician dressed in blood red robes. We cannot see its eyes, but it is smirking.  
Effect: Place 1 Spell counter on this card each time either you or your opponent activates a magic card. This card can have a maximum of 3 Spell counters. Remove 3 counters from this card to send it to your graveyard and special summon to the field 1 "Abyss Magician" from your hand, deck or graveyard.

Abyss Magician  
ATK: 2500 DEF: 0300  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 8  
Type: Spellcaster  
Image: A magician in blood red robes. It has no mouth, claws for hands and feet and hollow eyes.  
Effect: If this card is sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, you may remove this monster from play to special summon to the field from your deck a monster with "Abyss" in its card name with 500 more attack points. If this card is sent to the graveyard due to a card effect, you may remove this monster from play to inflict damage to your opponent's life points equal to the original attack of this card and then you may special summon a monster from your deck with "Abyss" in its name. If this card is returned to the hand, you may destroy 1 card on the field and then by sending this card from your hand to the out of play zone you may special summon a monster from your deck with "Abyss" in its name. During your opponent's end phase, if this card is in your out of play zone you take 100 points of damage.

Aura Switch  
Normal Trap  
Image: An Aura that is half Light and half Dark.  
Effect: All Dark Auras on the field become Light Auras and vice versa.


	16. Meanwhile

Forgot to mention in the last part, thanks to bailkatanas for the character Caleb and his deck. Now, on with the fic!

* * *

"N...no way!" Clayton stuttered. "You...beat me?"

Clayton: 0000  
Caleb: 2650

"As I told you I would. Now, choose your Fate card!" Clayton's eyes widened as a selection of cards appeared before him.

"Why are you using the Fate cards on me? We're on the same side!"

"I'm doing this so we don't get let down by weaklings. Now choose!" Clayton shook as he pointed to the far right card. It turned and revealed The Infection of Fate. Clayton tried to run but found himself blocked by an invisible barrier. He sunk to his knees. This was it. This was the end...

"FATE BREAKER!" A voice yelled. Caleb's Fate cards shattered and the invisible barrier broke. Caleb looked furious as he turned to see a girl he knew as Adela striding up towards them.

"What's this all about, Adela?" Caleb growled. Adela glared at him.

"I could ask you the same thing! You don't use Fate cards on other Begia members! Why are you two dueling anyway?"

"Clayton wasn't good enough to take on the job he was assigned, so I decided to spare Begia the failure Clayton would cause and take over the mission. Clayton was in denial so we had a duel." Adela looked like she was going to hit Caleb.

"Caleb! That order was from Mr. Guerra who need I remind you is higher up in this organisation than you are! He calls the shots, not you! So go back to dueling the rest of the students!" Caleb smirked, shrugged and then walked off. Adela strode up to where Clayton was. "Are you alright, Clayton?" He nodded, still shaking.

"I thought...I was going to be infected..." Adela gave him a comforting smile. "Why do we have to use these cards, Adela?" Adela stood up.

"It's only for a little bit longer. Mr. Guerra doesn't want to use them either, but he's not the one who makes those kinds of decisions." Clayton nodded and stood up, ready to return to his mission. "Need a hand?" Clayton nodded thankfully.

* * *

The number of students and teachers alive on Duel Academy Island had fallen significantly. There were now only 12 students and no teachers left. Hayden approached a group of 6 students who were slowly backing away from him.

"It's no good trying to run," Hayden said in a dark voice. "Once the Fate cards know there may be a duel, it wont let duelists escape until someone's fate is sealed." Sure enough, the students soon found themselves unable to move further backwards, almost as though there was an invisible bubble. "Who's going to duel?" The students were rooted to the spot, unable to speak. Hayden sighed and sat down, waiting for one of them to cave in.

* * *

Caleb was chasing a student. He was grinding his teeth together as he remembered his duel with Clayton.

_He doesn't belong in Begia! Anyone can see that! Why Guerra entrusted him with a job that important is beyond me!_ The student showed signs of tiring. Caleb picked up the pace, determined to duel this student. As he closed in, a boy leapt out of the bushes and tackled Caleb to the ground. Caleb struggled against his aggressor, finally managing to throw him off. Caleb was in a very destructive mood now. He activated his Duel Disk and kicked the boy on the ground.

"Get up! It's time to seal your Fate!" From the corner of his eye, he saw the boy he had been chasing was running towards them.

"Morris! Don't duel him! I've seen what he can do and...ARGH!" The boy had ran into the invisible barrier created by the Fate cards and was thrown back. The boy called Morris called out to the other boy.

"Kenny! Just run! I'll take care of this creep!"

"I'm going to enjoy crushing you!" Caleb snarled. Morris stared at Caleb with a look of hate.

"Enough talk! Let's duel!"

Caleb: 4000  
Morris: 4000

"I'll set a monster face down and end my turn." Caleb announced. Morris picked up his card.

"I summon Regenerating Mummy (1800/1500) and then I'll activate Overpowering Eye! This lets any Zombie on my side of the field with less than 2000 attack points go straight for your life points this turn! Go Regenerating Mummy!" Caleb grunted with pain as the zombie slashed at him.

Caleb: 2200  
Morris: 4000

"You can wipe that smirk on your face," Caleb growled as he looked at Morris. "Typical amateurs. They get one hit in and think the game's in the bag. I sacrifice my face down monster for Kiryu (2000/1500). Now, attack that excuse for a monster!"

Caleb: 2200  
Morris: 3800

"Amateur?" Morris snorted. "Bit rich coming from you. So far you haven't done anything remarkable in this duel other than insult me." Caleb's eyes narrowed, but Morris ignored this and continued his turn. "I play Call of the Mummy, allowing me to special summon a Zombie monster from my hand once per turn if I don't have monsters on my field. So I'll summon Vampire Lord (2000/1500) set a card and call it a turn."

"I'll play Dark Blade (1800/1500)! Now Kiryu, equip yourself to Dark Blade!" Morris slanted an eyebrow.

"You use Union monsters? Pfft."

"I wouldn't expect you to think much of Union monsters. You just pick a deck type that everyone else is using and make people think you were the one who came up with it!" Morris looked stunned. "Looks like I hit the nail on the head. All you duelists here at the Academy are the same." Caleb turned away for a few moments, then turned around and continued his turn. "Dark Blade gets 900 more attack points when Kiryu is equipped (1800/1500 - 2700/1500), and by destroying Kiryu, Dark Blade can attack you directly!" Morris braced himself. "It's going to get worse for you. I reveal my face down, Roll Out! It allows me to take a Union monster from my graveyard and equip it to an appropriate monster, so Kiryu is re-equipped! Now I'll play Fate's Dice. A virtual dice is rolled, and depending on the number I get to send a number of Fate cards from my deck to my out of play zone. If it lands on a 1 I don't remove any, if it lands on a 6 I remove all Fate cards and all the other numbers function as normal. So let's roll!" A large dice appeared and was thrown. It moved back and forth from several numbers, finally landing on a 4. Caleb removed 4 cards from the game.

"Shit..." Morris muttered, his legs shaking.

"Now Dark Blade attack!" Morris leapt to the side as Caleb's monster charged.

Caleb: 2200  
Morris: 1100

"And now...for the end." Caleb announced, holding up a card. "I activate Combination Attack! This un-equips my Union monster, and lets Dark Blade attack again! So, Kiryu destroy Vampire Lord, and Dark Blade will end this!"

"Shit!" Morris yelled as the monsters rushed towards him.

Caleb: 2200  
Morris: 0000

The Fate cards approached Morris. Shaking, he selected the second one from the right. It turned to reveal Fate: Eternal Sleep. The picture showed someone lying in a bed looking peaceful which was the last thing Morris thought before everything turned black.

"Eleven students to go." Caleb muttered.

* * *

"So, who's next?" Hayden had managed to defeat three of the six students. The remaining three were determined not to duel him. "Well, on your own heads be it. After all, you don't have any food with you." Hayden pulled out a sandwich and started taking small bites out of it. The students stared hungrily at it. Hayden smiled inwardly as he anticipated the next victory.

* * *

"Why did this all have to change?" Adela started at Clayton's question.

"What do you mean?"

"We never had to do any of this before. We didn't want to burn down islands or kill people or anything that we're doing now. So why has it all changed?" Adela sighed.

"You'd have to go all the way to the top to even come close to finding that one out. This new hierarchy...we never had it before..." Adela and Clayton looked at each other meaningfully. "There's still two helicopters left. We can..."

"Leave? I don't think so." Adela and Clayton spun round to see Caleb. "I knew something like this would happen! That's why I wanted to be in charge." He activated his Duel Disk. "Let's seal your Fates!" Adela and Clayton looked at each other.

"You're going to take both of us on?" Clayton asked. Caleb nodded. Shrugging, Adela and Clayton activated their Duel Disks and prepared themselves.

* * *

New cards...

Fate's Dice  
Normal Magic  
Image: Reaper of the Nightmare holding a red dice in his hand.

Effect: Roll a six sided dice. If the result is a 6, remove all cards with "Fate" in their name from your deck to your out of play zone. If the result is a 1, do not remove any cards from your deck from play. For any other result, remove from play a number of cards with "Fate" in their name equal to the result of the dice roll.

.


	17. Endless Abyss

_This is not good._ Arlene looked down at the ground for inspiration on how to beat Mendoza. When that failed she looked up at Mendoza's Abyss Magician (2500/0300). _If I destroy it with a card effect, I lose 2500 life points and she summons another Abyss monster. If I destroy it in battle she just gets another Abyss monster. Wish there was another option..._

"I summon Balance Warrior Boru (0500/0500) in attack mode, and set a card face down. That's it." Mendoza watched her life points go down.

Mendoza: 2800  
Arlene: 1200

"An annoyance, however the duel will be over before the Abyss Monsters' side effects become a problem." She picked up a card.

"I activate Threatening Roar, so you skip your battle phase this turn." Arlene announced. Mendoza sighed.

"Are you going to admit it yet?" Arlene scowled.

"What, that you think I can't win?" Mendoza nodded. "Don't get comfortable just yet. I can still turn this around."

"Hmph. Nothing but false hope. I summon Abyss Swordsman (0900/1200) in defense mode and end my turn." Arlene picked up her card and her eyes widened as she looked at her card. Then she smiled at Mendoza.

"False hope, eh? I activate The Search for Ultimate Balance! Now by paying half of my life points and not performing any kind of summon this turn, I get to special summon Ultimate Balance Knight (2500/1550) from my hand, deck or graveyard!"

Mendoza: 3300  
Arlene: 0600

"And how will that help? My Abyss Magician has the same attack points. You even gave me 500 life points thanks to my spell absorption magic card!"

"I'm not finished. I activate Recovery Cannon, which increases my monster's attack by 300 (2500/1550 - 2800/1550)! Even better, when a monster equipped with recovery cannon destroys a monster, I gain life points equal to that monster's attack points! So destroy Abyss Magician!" The knight in grey armour shot a bolt of energy which dissolved Abyss Magician.

Mendoza: 3500  
Arlene: 3100

"Not bad, Arlene. However, now I get to summon my Abyss Hatchling (0000/1000) in defense mode. Are you done?"

"Not yet. I remove the Light Aura from Boru! In case you didn't know..."

"I know perfectly well what your Balance Warrior does!" Mendoza snapped. She seemed very irritated that Arlene didn't think she would know. "Your monster gains a Light Aura every time a monster is normal summoned or flip summoned, and you can remove Light Auras from it to draw a number of cards equal to the Auras." Arlene removed a counter and picked up her card, then signalled the end of her turn causing Mendoza's life points to drop further.

Mendoza: 3200  
Arlene: 3100

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

"Okay then. I summon Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) and then I'll activate Ultimate Balance Knight's effect! This allows me to add one Light or Dark Aura to all Balance Warriors on the field, so I choose Dark Aura!" Ultimate Balance Knight shimmered as two Dark Auras shot out of it and began circling Boru and Kirud. "Now I'll activate both monster's Dark Aura effects! I'll remove a Dark Aura from Kirud to inflict 800 points of damage to you and remove one Dark Aura from Boru to discard a card in your hand!" Mendoza sighed as she randomly sent a card to the graveyard and lost 800 life points.

Mendoza: 2400  
Arlene: 3100

"Now, Kirud destroy the Abyss Hatchling!" Kirud rammed into Mendoza's monster - a small egg with yellow eyes protruding out of it. As it shattered there was an ear splitting roar as the egg mutated into a large dragon.

"I must thank you for destroying my Abyss Hatchling in battle." Mendoza said while gazing up at her latest monster. "Now it's replaced by my Abyss Dragon (2950/0700) who is more than capable of destroying your monsters!" Arlene shrugged, amazed at herself for not being a shivering wreck.

"I'll get Kirud to destroy your Swordsman!" Mendoza tutted as her monster was replaced by another Abyss Soldier. "I'll finish with a face down card."

Mendoza: 1900  
Arlene: 3100

Mendoza was starting to glance frequently at her life meter as she made her turn.

"I summon Abyss Lancer (0700/1500) in defense mode, and now my Abyss dragon will attack your Balance Knight!"

Mendoza: 1900  
Arlene: 3100

"I don't take any battle damage from Ultimate Balance Knight," Arlene explained.

"I knew that!" Mendoza snapped, now seeming very jumpy.

"Well, it's my move now," Arlene told Mendoza. "I'll summon my Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) to the field, and activate Artificial Aura! I now pay 3000 life points to add 3 Light Auras to Hyan! And then..." Arlene shivered slightly at the memory of the card she was about to play, "I activate Disrupting the Balance! Now I can send my Hyan with 3 Light Auras on it to the grave and summon from my fusion deck Warrior of the Light Aura - Hyan (3000/1200)!" Mendoza's life points went up as Hyan began to glow. He grew taller and his tattered robes stitched together before being concealed with armour.

Mendoza: 2400  
Arlene: 0100

"Next I'll remove the Light Aura from Kirud to gain 800 life points, and activate Warrior of the Light Aura - Hyan's ability called recycle, which activates when a Light Aura would be removed from a Balance Warrior. I get to activate the effect without removing the Aura and it's transferred to Hyan instead! Even better, when Hyan has a Light Aura when he battles, he gains 500 attack points! So Hyan, destroy the Abyss Dragon!" Hyan charged at the dragon as the Aura around him raised his attack (3000/1200 - 3500/1200)

Mendoza: 1850  
Arlene: 0900

Mendoza replaced her Dragon with another Hatchling. Arlene then destroyed the second Abyss Swordsman which was replaced by an Abyss Lancer. Arlene then shifted Boru into defence mode causing it to explode as it was destroyed. Mendoza turned white as Arlene ended her turn, lowering Mendoza's life points.

Mendoza: 1150  
Arlene: 0900

"You can't beat me, you...you amateur!" Mendoza shrieked at Arlene. She frantically scanned her cards, then her body sagged as she realised defeat was near. "I surrender." Arlene looked on in shock as Mendoza's life points hit zero.

Mendoza: 0000  
Arlene: 0900

"But you could have..." Arlene began, but the duel examiner simply shook her head.

"There is no card that would have allowed me to win before my Abyss monsters reduced my life points to zero. I was simply saving time." The Fate cards now appeared to choose Mendoza's punishment. She stared at them for a few seconds. Then...

"NO!" Arlene and Mendoza jumped at the sound of Fay's voice. She had tears in her eyes as she spoke. "You can't do this! It can't end this way! You didn't have to play those stupid cards in the first place! So why..." Fay broke down. Mendoza looked nonplussed.

"It's what I agreed to when I was chosen to duel. I accept my fate." She picked one of the cards, which turned to reveal The Death of Fate.

"No..." Fay was shaking. "Not that card...NO!" Mendoza was already rising up into the air, and Fay was desperately trying to pull her down. Mendoza struggled against Fay before becoming too weak to do so and eventually not moving at all. Fay screamed and crumpled to the floor, trying hard not to throw up. Arlene felt awkward watching this and tried to comfort her, but Fay swiped at her. Arlene sat down on the ground and waited for Fay to recover.

* * *

Erick Guerra was being followed.

It was a little boy that looked no older than 10, but had never aged in all the time he had followed Erick. Erick had often gone up to the boy and asked him questions, only to get blank stares in response. Whenever he tried to call the police the boy vanish, only to return several hours later. Erick was about to go up to the boy in a futile attempt to make him talk when his phone rang.

"Hello? Erick Guerra speaking?" A hearty voice greeted him from the other end.

"Erick! How are you? The island plan running smoothly?" Erick nodded, then remembered the man on the other end couldn't see him.

"Yes, sir."

"Good good! We're having a bit of trouble with Fay Britt. She's travelling with a companion and has already beaten two of our duelists! So. I want you to duel Ms. Britt!" Erick was stunned.

"Me, sir?"

"Is there a problem?" The man on the other end had become very serious. Erick jumped at the change of tone and fumbled with his hair as he answered quickly.

"No of course not! Just tell me where they are!" The man on the other end became jovial once more.

"Excellent! I'll text you the location! I just love texting! Oh! And before I go, there's something else you should know as well."

"Yes, sir?"

"Ms. Britt has become to much of a nuisance to capture, so just use the Fate cards. She can just die for all I care!" The man on the other end gave a booming laugh, then the line went dead. Erick ended the call and turned to the little boy, who had a look of hurt in his eyes.

"What are you staring at? Clear off." The boy looked at him for a few more moments...then spoke for the first time since Erick had met him.

"You're a bad man, Mr. Guerra!" Then he ran off. Erick simply looked on, at a loss for words.

* * *

New cards...

Abyss Swordsman  
ATK: 0900 DEF: 1200  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 4  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A small soldier dressed in black robes with a large sword.  
Effect: If this card is removed from the field, by removing this card from play you may special summon a monster from your deck to the field with "Abyss" in its name. During your opponent's end phase, if this card is in your out of play zone you take 100 points of damage.

Abyss Hatchling  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 1000  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 3  
Type: Dragon  
Image: A black baby dragon's head poking out of an egg.  
Effect: When this card is removed from the field, by removing this card from play you may special summon from your deck "Abyss Dragon". During your opponent's end phase, if this card is in your out of play zone you take 100 points of damage.

Abyss Dragon  
ATK: 2950 DEF: 0700  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 8  
Type: Dragon  
Image: A Dragon with a dark aura surrounding it. It has leathery wings and and spikes protruding from its belly.  
Effect: If this card is removed from the field by a card effect, by removing this card from play destroy all cards on your opponent's side of the field, and afterwards draw 1 card. If this card is removed from the field and sent to the hand or deck, by removing this card from play destroy all cards on your opponent's side of the field, then your opponent discards 1 card from their hand. During your opponent's end phase, if this card is in your out of play zone, you take 100 points of damage.

Abyss Lancer  
ATK: 0700 DEF: 1500  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 3  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A small soldier dressed in light armour with a lance drenched in blood.  
Effect: If this card is removed from the field, by removing this card from play you may special summon a monster from your deck to the field with "Abyss" in its name. During your opponent's end phase, if this card is in your out of play zone you take 100 points of damage.

Warrior of the Light Aura - Hyan  
ATK: 3000 DEF: 1200  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 8  
Type: Warrior  
Image: Balance Warrior Hyan wearing silver armour holding a majestic sword.  
Fusion Requirements: Balance Warrior Hyan with 3 Light Auras.  
Effect: This card can only be fusion summoned by Disrupting the Balance. When a Light Aura would be destroyed to pay a cost, the cost is negated and this card receives the counter instead. This card gains 2 Light Auras instead of one from card effects. This card cannot accumulate Dark Auras. This card gains 500 attack points for every Light Aura it has. Remove 4 Light Auras to destroy all magic and trap cards on the field.


	18. Reunion and Loss

"That's game." Adela sunk to the floor, looking at Clayton who had been killed by a Fate card earlier on in the duel.

Caleb: 0450  
Clayton: 0000  
Adela: 0000

"You might have won had you not been so intent on saving Clayton." Adela said nothing. "It's time to seal your Fate. Pick a card." She still didn't respond. Caleb snapped at her. "This duel's over! You'll be free from Begia now! I'll be happy that you two are gone! So pick your card and end this!" Adela shook his head slowly. "PICK YOUR CARD, ADELA!" Adela stood up.

"No."

"What? You have to! Otherwise..."

"This duel doesn't end. We both stay trapped in the bubble until we're dead." Caleb didn't say anything for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was a whisper.

"If you don't pick your Fate now, Fate will pick for you. And that wont be pretty. You're not the first duelist to not choose." Adela shook her head. The Fate cards shimmered and shattered until there was only one: The Death of Fate. "Hmph. It was lenient on you. The last duelist got a card far worse than that." Adela rose from the ground, tears streaming down her face as her vision blackened.

"FATE BREAKER!"

"What the hell?" Caleb yelled as the bubble dissolved and Adela fell to the floor. Her eyes were closed but she could hear the conversation.

"I can't believe you, Caleb!"

"You shut up! And where have you been? Not doing your bit for the Island plan!"

"I've been busy. Now are we going to duel or what?"

"How many idiots am I going to duel today?" Caleb muttered as the duel begun.

* * *

_Why is this happening?_ Fay had finally been calmed down and the two girls had found a hotel to stay for the night, using up the last of the girls' money. Arlene and Fay didn't care though. Arlene was too occupied with finding Ethan, while Fay was struggling to deal with the Fate cards. _When we duelled them, they always activated the Fate cards without hesitation. They never once seemed to think they would lose. Marie...she looked so helpless when she had to pick her card..._ Fay began crying without noticing this herself. _She didn't have to put that card in her deck! And neither did Mendoza! And..._ She glanced at Arlene who was staring up at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

"Arlene." Arlene sat up and looked at Fay. "I need to tell you some things." Arlene looked at her intently. "You know that Begia came to Duel Academy Island because of me. As long as I can remember they've been coming after me."

"And you said they never told you why they were chasing after you." Arlene pointed out. Fay scratched the back of her head frantically.

"Well, yeah that's true...only I think I can guess why. I...kind of made...the Fate cards." Arlene stood up.

"What? How? You said they were chasing you as long as you could remember! How could you have made those cards when you were only a child?"

"I can only remember back to when I was 8." Arlene stared at her. "I can't remember anything before then. The earliest memory I have is someone helping me to escape."

"Then how do you know you made the Fate cards?"

"I wasn't the one who came up with the idea!" Fay snapped. She mumbled an apology quickly and continued. "I did help - against my will! - to make them. As the man was guiding me out of the facility he told me about why I was here. The Fate cards are made by condensing human emotions into cards. At least, that's the start of it. I have no idea how they can do that or what else they do to make them the Fate cards we've seen, but I know that in order to get human emotions they asked Begia members for their children."

"They WHAT?"

"I don't know why they did it either. The man said that Begia had never been like this before..." She fell silent for a few moments. Just as Arlene was about to speak Fay continued. "The man, I think he was my dad. I can't be sure, but..." Tears fell freely from her face. Arlene walked up to her and gave her a slightly mechanical hug which lasted for a few minutes. When Fay broke the hug she looked much better.

"So was it just you they'd enlisted?" Arlene dared to ask.

"No. I saw more children. Most of them looked like they were in pain..." She stared at the ground. Arlene patted her shoulder and gave her a smile. Fay smiled back as well.

_She doesn't think I'm a monster! Even after I helped make the cards, she thinks I'm still me!_ Fay thought to herself. The two of them lay down in their beds and finally drifted off.

* * *

Adela woke slowly. Her eyes showed her that it was night, with the stars gazing down at her. She hesitantly sat up and looked around. She was on a beach and a fire was crackling away next to her. Adela realised how cold she was and warmed her hands on the fire.

"ADELA! You're awake!" The girl turned to see a familiar face walking towards her.

"Bryon Perez!" She exlaimed and hugged him. She then broke off as she remembered the circumstances which allowed them to meet. "Clayton's..." Bryon nodded slowly. "What about Caleb?" Bryon's face darkened.

"We drew. His Fate cards went CRAZY and dissolved. So now we know how to destroy them!" Adela sighed.

"Destroying the cards wont help. We need to get to the source...wherever that is." Bryon grinned and grabbed her arm, dragging her along the beach until they reached a raft. "You built a raft." Adela had meant this as a question, but she felt drained. Bryon noticed this.

"We're going to a nearby island. I WAS able to save a Helicopter, so we can fly the REST of the way!" Adela gave a small nod. She was starting to feel woozy, but didn't tell Bryon as they began their journey back to the mainland.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You attacked Clayton and Adela?" Caleb bristled at Hayden's accusing tone.

"Look, they were a threat to this mission! If I hadn't dueled them..."

"Then we'd be finished by now. Because of you, Adela has probably already made her way off the island and is going to inform people on the mainland. Had you stuck to the plan, we could have started building by now."

"I don't see why we have to build on this island," Caleb muttered. "We could have picked an abandoned one or something..."

"We received orders to build here. Are you going to question them?" Caleb shook his head. "Good. Some of the other Begia members are chasing after Adela as we speak. As for you, you are to return to the base..."

"What? NO! I'm NOT leaving this mission!" Hayden slanted an eyebrow.

"Are you going to let me finish? You are to return there to get some more Fate cards and then return here. As much as I would rather see you pay for your mistakes, Mr. Guerra has decided to let you continue with the island operation." Caleb didn't know whether to be gratefully or angry. He just stood there as Hayden walked off.

* * *

Fay and Arlene had checked out of their hotel room and were discussing their next plan of action as they wandered aimlessly about, not paying attention to their surroundings.

"The surrounding buildings of the Begia base looked similar to these ones..." Fay muttered. Arlene just snorted at this.

"Yeah, the Begia base is going to be around here."

"Is that so surprising?" The two girls froze to see Erick Guerra facing them, a small smile on his lips. He was wearing his Duel Disk. "I'm here to duel Fay." Arlene took a step forward, but Erick shook his head. "Fay only, Arlene. You'll have to wait your turn to duel another Begia member. Now come on, Fay!" Fay was shaking as she activated her Duel Disk. Erick simply nodded approvingly and the duel begun.


	19. Chains and Gravekeepers

"You're not going to activate...the Fate cards, are you?" Fay asked hesitantly as the duel begun.

Fay: 4000  
Erick: 4000

"Do you have a problem with our dueling methods?" Fay turned white. "It's your move." Fay tried to put on a brave front.

_He hasn't activated the cards yet. If I can beat him before he does, then both of us live!_

"I'll summon my Skilled Dark Magician (1900/1700) to the field in attack mode! Then I'll place one card face down and end my turn." Erick looked puzzled.

"Don't tell me you've changed your deck again! First fairies, then chain burn and now spellcasters?" Fay shook her head.

"I haven't changed my deck since dueling Marie." Erick frowned as he tried to remember something.

"Oh, Miss Machaud! I can't say she was a great duelist, but that was made clear when you defeated her. Anyway, I..."

"How can you just say that?" Fay looked outraged at Erick. He blinked at the angry look.

"Miss Machaud chose her own Fate by playing those cards. Had she actually taken a look at her skill level, she..."

"YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT HER! SHE GAVE HER LIFE TO WHATEVER STUPID CAUSE YOU'RE GOING FOR! MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE A LITTLE RESPECT FOR THE DEAD!" Erick looked nonplussed.

"It doesn't take much to give your life. It's all about the sentiments behind it, and Miss Machaud was not intending to die in that duel."

"What about Mendoza?" Arlene interrupted. Erick looked thoughtful again.

"The "examiner" at Duel Academy...quite the coincidence that you duelled her for your entrance exam. Then again, Fate has a funny way of going about its business." Arlene looked incredulous.

"You're saying that your little Fate cards decided that I was going to duel Mendoza? I doubt that somehow."

"I wouldn't expect you to believe me, but I'll have you know that these "little Fate cards" have more power than you would think. Of course, you can thank Miss Britt for that." Arlene bristled.

"She didn't choose to be an experiment!" Erick gave a small smirk.

"There will be plenty of time for talking later. For now, we duel. I discard my Gravekeeper's Commander (1600/1500) from my hand to activate its special ability: I get to add the Necrovalley field magic card to my hand, which I now play!" Fay was secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

_He hasn't activated any Fate cards yet! If I can just beat him quickly..._

"...then I'll summon my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier (1500/1000) to the field and activate Necrovalley! Now," Erick gave Fay a patronising look at this point, as she was staring confused at the field magic card, "Necrovalley has three effects. The first is that any effects of monster, magic or trap cards that involve graveyards are automatically negated. Secondly neither of us can remove cards in our graveyards from play. And finally, all monsters with Gravekeeper's in their name gets a 500 point boost to their attack and defence, so my Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier's attack (1500/1000 - 2000/1500) now surpasses your Skilled Dark Magician! So my monster will destroy yours." Fay didn't even flinch at the attack.

Fay: 3900  
Erick: 4000

_As long as those Fate cards don't turn up, the worst that'll happen is that I'll lose._

"I'll set three cards face down and set a monster. That's my turn." Erick picked up his card and looked at it with interest.

"Well. Now I summon my Gravekeeper's Assailant (1500/1500 - 2000/2000) to the field. Now my Spear Soldier will attack your face down!" The Spear Soldier easily pierced Fay's monster, causing damage to Fay.

Fay: 3700  
Erick: 4000

"Your Spear Soldier has a pierce ability?" Fay enquired. Erick nodded slowly. "Legendary Jutjitsu Master (1300/1800) activate your effect!" Erick's Spear Soldier was removed from the field and placed on the top of his deck.

"I see. So your monster can send any monster that attacks it to the top of the owner's deck. Still, my Assailant can attack you directly!"

Fay: 1700  
Erick: 4000

"And now to remove one of your face downs with Mystical Space Typhoon. I'm anxious to see what your bluffs were." Fay gave a large grin.

"You've just set off my chain! I activate my Chain Detonation as chain link 2! Then I activate Reckless Greed! Next up is Accumulated Fortune and last but by no means least is Chain Strike!" Erick was struggling to register what had just happened.

"So...what do all these cards do exactly?"

"Well, first off Chain Strike inflicts 400 damage to you, multiplied by its position on the chain. In this case it was chain link 5, so you lose 2000 life points!"

Fay: 1700  
Erick: 2000

"Accumulated Fortune resolves next, which can only be activated on chain link 4 or higher. It allows me to draw two cards." Fay did so. "Reckless Greed lets me draw two cards provided I skip my next two draw phases..." Fay picked up another two cards, "...and lastly Chain Detonation inflicts 500 points of damage to you!"

Fay: 1700  
Erick: 1500

"Even better," Fay continued, "If my Chain Detonation was activated on Chain link 2 or higher - which it was in this case - it goes back to my deck instead of to my graveyard! Oh, and then your Mystical Space Typhoon resolves, but seeing as all of my cards are gone no luck for you!" Erick shrugged and ended his turn. "Alright then! I miss my draw phase but I'm not worried. I set 3 cards face down and set one monster as well for good measure." Erick shook his head sadly.

"Do you mean to drain yourself of all your resources? Missing draw phases and leaving yourself with one card in your hand is not smart play."

"Seems to me like you're trying to stall," Arlene growled from the sidelines. "Make your move and get on with it."

"Oh? You don't want to know more about Begia? Or more specifically, how to save your brother?" Arlene stared at him. "There is a way to save your brother you know. However we shall save that information for the next time we meet, as it is not all good news. Anything else you care to know about Begia?"

"Why are you telling us this?" Arlene snapped at him.

"I'm in a generous mood." A memory of the boy surfaced in Erick's mind. He glanced around but didn't see him.

"Why can't I remember anything before I was 8?" Fay asked. Erick gave a large grin.

"It's simple. We needed to you to show a range of emotions for us to get the biggest benefit and to improve our Fate cards. After all, whether you choose to believe this or not, not all of the Fate cards are bad."

"But I was released! How could you use my emotions if I wasn't chained up to one of your machines?"

"Ah, poor Ms. Britt. Begia has evolved from that. It is now possible for us to use the same technology, except from much further away." Arlene looked stunned.

"Arlene? What is it?" Fay asked.

"She's caught on much quicker than you have, Fay. That escape was set up by us. The memory loss was set up by us. This way we could have you running around feeling all of these emotions without you knowing too much about the project."

"B...but the man told me all about the project!"

"Oh? Did he tell you the specifics of the machines? Why your parents agreed to give you up? Why we needed children? Ms. Britt, that man hardly told you anything!"

"If you wanted her to feel a range of emotions," Arlene interrupted. "Why did you chase her?"

"Our leader felt that the negative Fate cards were of higher priority, and so made sure you didn't stay happy for too long." Fay stared at the ground, at a complete loss for words.

_All this time I thought I've been free...I've still been part of their experiment? All this time I've been helping them make more of those cards?_ Erick gave a small smirk and continued his turn.

* * *

Adela stared out the window of the helicopter as it made its way back to the mainland.

"You didn't tell me you could fly one of these," Adela said to Bryon. He grinned.

"I had a few lessons when I was younger. The ONLY problem was I was TOO confident!" Adela nodded. "Hey, Adela? Who is this Caleb guy that I dueled?"

"He's new. Thinks everyone else is below him. He wanted to do the island job all by himself, and even though only the best of us were allowed he became part of our team. The boss has been making some weird decisions lately." Bryon nodded. Adela pressed her face up to the window.

_I feel drained. I haven't eaten or had anything to drink or...maybe when I get back on solid ground I can find something._

_

* * *

_

"Well," said Erick. "I'll get my Spear Soldier to attack your monster." Fay did nothing.

"FAY!" Arlene called from the sidelines. "SNAP OUT OF IT!" Fay's monster was revealed to be Royal Magical Library (0/2000). Arlene breathed a sigh of relief but Erick looked more confident.

"Now. I activate Preparations for the End, paying half of my life points to remove all Fate cards from my hand, deck or graveyard from play."

Fay: 1700  
Erick: 0750

"Gravekeeper's Assailant will attack. When he does, I can change the battle position of one face up monster, so I'll change your Royal Magical Library to attack mode."

"FAY!" Arlene called again. "DON'T LET HIM WIN! SO WHAT IF YOU'VE BEEN AN EXPERIMENT? YOU'RE STILL YOU! YOU PICK YOURSELF UP AND BEAT THIS GUY BEFORE HE USES THOSE FATE CARDS ON YOU! DON'T BE A VICTIM!" Fay turned her eyes to Arlene.

"Good luck." Fay whispered before being hit by Erick's monster.

Fay: 0000  
Erick: 0750

"Pick your card," Erick said dispassionatly. Fay had tears pouring down her face, but she looked defiant as she chose the second Fate card from the left. It turned to reveal The Death of Fate.

"Oh." Fay noted. Then she rose into the air. Arlene screamed out to Fay, but Fay was beyond hearing her. Fay's face steadily darkened until it was clear that she was dead. All the while Arlene was screaming at her, while Erick turned and walked away. When Fay crumpled to the floor, Arlene cradled her in her arms, desperately feeling for a pulse.

"Come on, Fay...come on COME ON!" Arlene broke down and buried her face in Fay's shoulder.

* * *

The boy was now following Erick Guerra again.

"You're a bad man!" The boy called.

_Just ignore him._

"You killed that nice girl!"

_I didn't kill her, she chose her own..._

"How could you do that, Mr. Guerra?"

"WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Erick yelled. "I...I was under orders..." He sunk to the floor. "I...I didn't...h...have any other choice. He would have killed me." The boy was looking at Erick intently. "But why didn't I try? Why did I win? Why didn't I lose? These cards..." Erick pulled out his Fate cards and tore them to shreds. He stood up and tossed them over his shoulder at the boy. "I'm done. Begia has gone too far. I need to settle this." He walked off quickly.

_It's time to have a little showdown with the boss. This has gone on for too long._


	20. Reversal of Fate

Hi everyone! Now, those of you who reviewed got a cryptic response about Fay. Is she alive or dead? Read on!

* * *

Arlene was eventually forced to move herself and Fay to avoid attracting attention. At the end of an alley Arlene propped Fay up against a wall and checked again for signs of life. Finding none, Arlene sat down on the ground and looked at Fay with a great intensity, as though this would bring back Fay.

_This can't happen!_ Arlene thought desperately. _It was bad enough with Ethan, but now Fay as well?_ She looked out of the alley with fierce anger imprinted in her eyes. _If Erick Guerra shows his face here again..._

_

* * *

_

Erick quickly dialed in a number on his phone as he walked to the base.

"Pick up...pick up you son of a..."

"Hello?"

"Hamon! We need to talk about the Fate cards!" There was a pause.

"When you're speaking to me, it's sir or Mr. Ayver. NEVER Hamon. You understand?"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT! FAY'S DEAD!"

"So you dueled her then? Good good! Now..."

"How can you say that? After all she did for you and Begia you're not even sorry she's dead!" There was a pause.

"...That's because she's not." Erick stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?"

"Haven't I told you about this?"

"No!" Hamon gave a booming laugh.

"Oops! Oh well, I'll tell you now. You know that that Fate cards need a lot of raw and unstable energy to be made, yes?"

"Yes I know that!" Erick said impatiently. "That's why we chose children's emotions."

"Mm. However, it seems that something's holding back the Fate cards' true power!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is, children's emotions alone are not enough. We need something else for the Fate cards to be fully functional! Quite a blow to my plan I must admit, but ah well."

"So then what's happened to Fay? Is she or isn't she dead?"

"Well she's technically both. We took in one of the victims of The Death of Fate and analysed them to see how effective the card was. It turns out that despite the victim's heart stopping, they still had brain activity! So Fay's dead, but not clinically dead." Erick breathed a sigh of relief. "Of course, that's about to change."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're getting closer to finding that missing ingredient to the Fate cards! And as soon as we've applied it, everyone who was hit by The Death of Fate will die for good!"

"No! You..." Hamon hung up. "Bastard!" Then he started running towards the area where he and Fay had dueled.

* * *

Erick found the area was full of bustling people, but there was no sign of Fay or Arlene.

_Please don't tell me they've gone to a hospital...please..._ He wasn't looking where he was going and bumped straight into someone.

"Oh! I'm sorry..." he began, but stopped short when he realised he'd crashed straight into Arlene.

"You." Arlene stated. Erick was aware of the amount of venom in her voice.

"I need to talk to you about Fay."

"What, about the fact YOU KILLED HER?" Erick glanced around quickly.

"About how she's still alive."

"What."

"I'll explain everything later. You haven't taken Fay to a hospital, have you?" Arlene shook her head. "Can you take me to her?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I tore up my Fate cards." Arlene looked at him for a few minutes. "Please, just take me to her and I'll explain." Arlene was silent, then gave a slow nod and started walking with Erick close behind.

* * *

"So Fay IS dead, but she isn't at the same time?"

"Well, technically she's dead, but she's not clinically dead. Organs can be restarted, but once the brain goes that's it. The Death of Fate card is supposed to choke the victim, which should kill the victim. What seems to have happened instead is that the victims' hearts have stopped, but they still have the potential to be revived."

"You don't seem to happy about this." Erick nodded.

"That's because Begia's leader found out that the reason victims aren't being properly affected by the Fate cards is that they're missing something. As soon as he applies it, Fay will die. There has to be some way..." Erick paused. "Hold on a second..." Erick started pacing quickly, muttering things under his breath. Then a wave of realisation hit him. "Of course...Reversal of Fate..." Arlene stood up.

"What is it?"

"There is a Fate card called Reversal of Fate. Basically if someone were to suffer from the infection of Fate, then someone duels on their behalf, wins and the opponent gets Reversal of Fate that removes the infection. I didn't think it would work on The Death of Fate seeing as I thought that the card killed, but now..."

"Why can't we just revive her without the card?" Erick shook his head.

"It doesn't work like that. Just as you couldn't make an antidote for whatever comes out of The Infection of Fate, I don't think you'd be able to bring back Fay unless you used Reversal of Fate." Arlene looked like she was having difficulty accepting this new information.

"All of this is...weird. Someone dies thanks to a card and then it turns out you can bring them back to life with another card? How can they have that kind of power?" Erick stood up.

"It's time for me to go. I've told you what I needed to and now I have to go back to Begia." Arlene's face darkened.

"What, so you're still on their side?" Erick shook his head quickly.

"There's a score that needs to be settled and I'm the one to do it. Good luck." Erick started walking but Arlene followed him. "You can't come with me, Arlene."

"Yes I can! I have to go there to save Ethan! And then I can get the Reversal of Fate card there as well! I still don't trust you either!"

"As much as I hate the idea of fate right now, you'd be best waiting until it gave you a sign. I don't think you're ready to go there just yet."

"Don't patronize me! I'm going!" Erick looked thoughtful, then knocked out Arlene and sat her down in the alley.

"Sorry."

* * *

"We're HERE!" Adela shakily walked out of the helicopter and sunk to her knees.

"I don't feel so good..." she muttered. Bryon lifted her up.

"Come on! Let's go find somewhere where we can eat!" Adela nodded and the two of them made their way slowly into civilisation.

* * *

Arlene was walking quickly through the streets, not because she was in a hurry, but because she was being followed. She had gone to get some food and was now returning to the alley where Fay was and had been aware that someone had been tailing her for the several minutes. The person in question was a 17 year old boy that was very easy to notice as he was a good deal taller than the rest of the crowd that separated Arlene from him. Arlene knew she wouldn't be able to run forever, so took a left and entered the closest shop to her, which to her annoyance was a small cornershop.

_So much for having somewhere to hide..._ The door opened and the boy entered, staring at Arlene.

"You're Arlene Ramirez, right?" The boy scratched his slightly tanned skin as he waited for an answer.

"That would be me. And you're from Begia." The boy nodded revealing his black hair with blonde highlights that Arlene wasn't tall enough to see before.

"So. Let's find somewhere to duel, shall we?" Arlene nodded and walked out of the shop with the boy close behind him.

"So what's your name then?" Arlene asked as they walked.

"It's Michael." The two of them fell silent for a few minutes before Arlene spoke.

"Take a left here." They did and entered the alley where Fay was. Arlene walked up to her and gave her some water before turning to Michael. "Because of Begia, she's unable to eat or sleep, just stuck as a rag doll for now. I have a lot of anger I'd like to vent out and you're going to be on the receiving end." Michael said nothing, simply activating his Duel Disk and making the first move.


	21. Meeting with Demise

Forgot to mention in the last part, thanks again to bailkatanas for the character of Michael, and thanks in advance for his deck.

* * *

"I'll go first," Michael declared. Arlene moved back slightly at the ruthless tone.

_It's like he wants to destroy me..._

"I play my magic card End of the World!" Darkness seemed to encapsulate the arena while Michael explained the effects of the card. "This is a ritual magic card that lets me summon either Ruin, Queen of Oblivion or Demise, King of Armageddon. It just so so happens that I have one of these cards in my hand, so I'll send two level 4 monsters to my grave and summon to the field Demise, King of Armageddon (2400/2000)!" The area they were dueling in started shuddering. From the sky a large monster descended, dressed mostly in black with a large axe. "I'll set one card face down and call it a turn." Michael's monster leered at Arlene as she drew.

_This guy's managed to bring out something like that in one turn? He must think I can't destroy it. Idiot._

"I play Smashing Ground, so now your Demise, King of Armageddon goes to the graveyard!"

"You think so?" Michael muttered. A large fist hurtled towards his monster, but before it connected it ran into a barrier and shattered. "I activated my trap card Ritual Defender. Now I can negate any effect that would destroy my Demise, King of Armageddon other than in battle by paying 1000 life points each time."

Michael: 3000  
Arlene: 4000

_Hmm...better than I thought. Guess I'd better think about this a bit more..._

Fine! I'll summon my Balance Warrior Boru (0500/0500) to the field in attack mode and then I'll play Swords of Revealing Light to stop you attacking for three turns!" Michael picked up his card.

"I'll set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Then I'll play Artificial Aura, which adds two Light Auras to Boru at the cost of 2000 life points!" Boru started glowing as it gained two more auras.

Michael: 3000  
Arlene: 2000

"Now I play Disrupting the Balance! I can now send Boru to the graveyard with his 3 Light Auras to summon Warrior of the Light Aura - Boru (1000/0500)!" Boru swelled in size as his tattered clothes were replaced with simple white robes. He looked impassive as he observed the field.

"And he is supposed to help you how?" Michael questioned. "Your monster is over 1000 points weaker than mine." Arlene nodded.

"I'll get to that later. For now, I summon my Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) in defence mode and end my turn."

"Well, I'll destroy your Swords of Revealing Light with Mystical Space Typhoon! Now, Demise destroy Boru!" Demise swung its axe at Boru with a malevolent grin.

Michael: 3000  
Arlene: 0600

"Nice try," Arlene commented. "But Boru is still here! While he's in attack mode he can't be destroyed in battle, though if I ever negate the damage when he's in attack mode then he's destroyed. My move?" Michael nodded. "I play Dian Keto the Cure Master to increase my life points by 1000!" As Arlene played her card, a Light Aura appeared on Hyan, and two appeared on Boru.

Michael: 3000  
Arlene: 1600

"Now, to activate some effects! I'll remove my Light Aura from Hyan to destroy one face up magic or trap card, so say goodbye to your Ritual Defender!" Michael's card shattered as Hyan's Light Aura shot through it. "Then I'll remove the two Light Auras from Boru to draw 2 cards! Then I'll play Shadow Cannon, equipping it to my Balance Warrior Hyan and giving it one Dark Aura, as well as bringing its attack up by 700 (1800/1200 - 2500/1200)! Go Hyan and destroy Demise!" Hyan blasted a dark sphere of energy as Demise. The sphere was stopped by a human shaped spirit.

"You should have remembered my face down cards. I activated Astral Barrier and Spirit Barrier! Astral Barrier can redirect any attacks you make and turn them into direct attacks, which is what I just did. And Spirit Barrier reduces any battle damage I would take to 0 as long as I have a monster on the field. So my monster's still here and I don't lose any life points. Any questions?" Arlene shook her head.

_Dammit! Now what am I going to do?_ Arlene set a card and ended her turn.

"Demise, attack Boru!" Demise slashed at Boru with his axe again, bringing Arlene's life points dangerously low.

Michael: 3000  
Arlene: 0200

"That's my turn." Arlene was thinking hard as she picked up her card.

_This guy doesn't seem to have any kind of emotion when he's dueling...how can he be so level headed? If I can turn this around maybe I'll invoke some sort of reaction._

"I play Aura Condenser! This magic card lets me remove all Auras from one monster, and then destroy a number of magic or trap cards on the field equal to the number of Auras removed, so I'll remove my Dark Aura from Hyan to say goodbye to your Astral Barrier!" A glass cylinder scooped up Hyan's Dark Aura, then blasted it out at Astral Barrier destroying it. "Boru gains 2 Light Auras, and for each one he has, his attack and defence go up by 500 (1000/0500 - 2000/1500). So, Hyan will destroy Demise, and then Boru will attack you directly!" Hyan blasted out another sphere of energy which collided with Demise and exploded. Then Boru raced up to Michael and slashed at him.

Michael: 1000  
Arlene: 0200

Michael grimaced with pain. Seeing him like this, Arlene couldn't resist the urge to taunt him after the long period of him showing no emotion.

"Not so level headed now, are you?" Michael faced her, anger blazing in his eyes.

"What? You think that because I have no monsters you've won? You think that one good move makes you a better duelist? YOU ACADEMY STUDENTS ARE ALL THE SAME!" Arlene recoiled at Michael's outburst, but he didn't stop. "I TRIED TO GET INTO THAT STUPID ACADEMY! ME AND MY...my sister...all I wanted was for her to be safe..." Arlene looked stunned at the sudden change in emotions. Michael didn't seem to notice she was there as he stared at the ground, continuing his narrative. "They would let me in, but not my sister. It was their policy. I was trying to get away...trying to find a new place for us...they let me down when I needed help the most...she would have found us if we'd gone anywhere else..."

"Who?" Arlene dared to ask. Michael looked as though he'd been electrocuted as he realised Arlene had heard everything. The anger in his eyes returned. He picked up his card.

"I play Preparations for the End, removing all Fate cards in my deck, hand or graveyard from play at the cost of half of my life points!"

Michael: 0500  
Arlene: 0200

"Then I'll play my own Swords of Revealing Light so you can't attack for three turns!" Arlene looked like she was going to cry as she drew her card. "What?" Michael snapped.

"You shouldn't have played the Fate cards." She breathed deeply, then continued her move. "I play Explosive Star, which lets me destroy one magic or trap card on the field, and I choose your Swords."

"No..." Michael looked fearful as he realised what would now happen. "Please no..."

"I'm sorry..." Arlene whispered. "Hyan. End this." Hyan fired his cannon which ended the duel.

Michael: 0000  
Arlene: 0200

The Fate cards swirled around Michael. Shaking, he picked the middle card. His eyes widened as he saw what card he had picked: Binding Fate. The picture had one person running, with another behind them who looked as though he desperatly wanted to be somewhere else.

"No...please no..."

"What does that card do?" Arlene asked.

"It...it means that I have to go where you go until I die. I can never go anywhere unless you want to go there." Tears ran down his face. "My sister...what will I do...?" Arlene was torn.

_He's one of them...but he cares so much for his sister...besides, not all Begia members are that bad. Look at Bryon..._

"I'm going to try and destroy the Fate cards." Michael looked at her. "Once they're destroyed, you'll be free. But I need you to help me find where they make the cards." Michael looked disbelieving.

"You're going to destroy the cards?" Arlene nodded. Michael thought about this for a few moments.

_Will she really keep her word?_ A mental image of his sister flashed through his thoughts.

"Okay. I'll help. Let's destroy the cards."

* * *

New cards...

Ritual Defender  
Continuous Trap  
Image: A Light Barrier encircling an assortment of Ritual Monsters.  
Effect: When a Ritual monster on your side of the field would be destroyed by a card effect, by paying 1000 life points the effect is negated.

Warrior of the Light Aura - Boru  
ATK: 1000 DEF: 0500  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 6  
Type: Warrior  
Image: Balance Warrior Boru dressed in White Robes holding a majestic dagger.  
Fusion Requirements: Balance Warrior Boru with 3 Light Auras.  
Effect: This card can only be fusion summoned by Disrupting the Balance. Once per turn you can negate the cost of an effect that discards Light Auras. This card gains 2 Light Auras instead of one from card effects. This card cannot accumulate Dark Auras. This card gains 500 attack and defense points for every Light Aura it has. Remove 2 Light Auras to draw two cards. This effect can only be used once per turn. This card is not destroyed as a result of battle if it is in attack mode. If you negate the battle damage Boru would receive in attack mode through a card effect this card is destroyed.

Aura Condenser  
Normal Magic  
Image: Balance Warrior Hyan looking pale as he is trapped in a cylinder.  
Effect: Remove all Auras from a monster. For each one you remove, destroy one magic or trap card on the field.

Binding Fate  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A woman running with a man behind her who looks like he desperately wants to be somewhere else.  
Effect: If this card is chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent must go wherever you want them to go.


	22. Preparing

"For someone who's working for Begia, I can't believe you're so willing to help me destroy the Fate cards." Michael turned to face Arlene. The two were slowly but surely formulating a plan of action, but they had taken a break to think about refining the plan by themselves before consulting each other. Michael had filled Arlene in on what he knew about Begia's plans, which was little - all that he knew was that large numbers of Begia members were travelling to Duel Academy. The two of them were silent for a few minutes before Michael spoke.

"Fate cards should never have been any part of Begia." He paused. "One day Mr. Ayver..."

"Mr. Ayver?" Arlene enquired. Michael gave a small nod.

"The leader of Begia. One day he...changed. He suddenly had the notion that Begia would be used to pass judgement on people. He somehow found a way to develop the Fate cards that would do so and started mass producing them."

"By using children from the families of Begia members. Did they really agree?" Michael gave a bitter laugh.

"Of course not. On the surface they had a choice, but if they refused they were killed by the Fate cards. Or, as we now know almost killed." Silence surrounded them as they walked.

"All of this doesn't seem real." Arlene stated after a few minutes. "My brother leaves for no good reason; I chase him to Duel Academy and then it blows up - twice; we finally meet then he gets infected by a card and now here the both of us are attempting to take down Begia all by ourselves. This could be a movie plot or something."

"You sound like you're having second thoughts." There was a pause. "All of this does seem farfetched, but we can't explain it away so lets concentrate on our other problem. We need more people."

* * *

"Isn't this food GREAT?" Adela stared down at the sloppy mess on her plate.

"Yeah, it's really...um..."

"WORDS AREN'T NEEDED!" Bryon declared happily and started scooping up his food. Adela stared out of the window of the fast food chain they were in. After a few minutes Bryon finished his food and looked out of the window as well. All of a sudden he sat up.

"LOOK WHO IT IS!" Bryon jumped up and down and pointed to a boy and a girl. Adela squinted her eyes.

"Who are they exactly?" Bryon ignored her and rushed out of the restaurant. Adela saw Bryon bear hugging the girl before dragging both of them inside to their table.

"Adela, this is Arlene and Michael! Michael and Arlene, Adela!" They inclined their heads to each other.

"What luck. Two more." Arlene stated. Adela frowned.

"Who more what exactly?" She asked, not liking the tone of Arlene's voice.

* * *

"That's the plan. Any questions?" The four had moved to a fairly quiet area of the city to discuss the plan.

"You're serious?" Adela asked. Arlene and Michael nodded. "You want the four of us to take down Begia?"

"Five. We're taking Fay with us." Arlene answered.

"Oh! Well that's a lot of use, isn't it?" Adela exploded. "Four teenagers and an unconscious girl! We have an idiotic plan that no-one seems to realise only works in the realms of your imaginations so of course we'll win against the bad guys! You all seem to be forgetting that Begia isn't just going to roll over and let you beat them! I've met Mr. Ayver, he's not a pushover, and neither is the rest of the organisation! I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm looking at this realistically and where I'm standing this whole thing sounds ridiculous!" Bryon looked stunned at her, but Arlene and Michael didn't seem fazed.

"I'm glad that you're thinking about this." Adela looked at Arlene suspiciously. "Adela, you're right. Under normal circumstances this would be a sure fire way to be killed. But don't you remember what's going on at Duel Academy right now? A lot of the organisation is on the island right now, which means that there will be less Begia members than there normally are to deal with us. And correct me if I'm wrong but Begia never had that many members to begin with anyway." Adela thought about this. "We'll be going there tomorrow, so you have all of today to change your mind. If you want to come with us, then meet here at sunrise."

* * *

_It's hard to believe that I've come this far._ Arlene felt the wind whipping through her hair as she stood beside the limp body of Fay. The others were lying on the ground in the alley, but Arlene did not believe for a moment that they were asleep. _From barely entering Duel Academy to battling for my life and winning...but tomorrow...am I good enough? Am I good enough to duel Hamon Ayver? Michael told me that the only security they have is duelists with Fate cards. Works for us I guess, but it would be easier for them just to have guns and shoot us down! I guess Hamon believes that Begia should stop intruders their way. Hopefully by tomorrow Fay, Chester and Ethan will be back to normal...but then there's Duel Academy, being used by them for something. What if they're making more Fate cards there? I can only hope that when Hamon's brought down they'll stop._

_

* * *

_

_This is ridiculous._ Adela was facing away from the others, pretending to be asleep. _I shouldn't even be considering this. It's suicide. Or would be if the guards were smart enough to use guns. As it stands we've actually got a good chance at this. That's probably why I'm going. So I'll be teaming up with Bryon to shut down the main computer thing. And Michael said I'd need my Duel Disk? To shut down a computer? This is crazy. And yet I'm going through with it._

_

* * *

_

_Why?_ Michael thought to himself as he tried to sleep. _Why am I caught up in this? If I hadn't lost then I wouldn't be going through with this. They told me they'd free my sister if I defeated enough people. All I wanted was revenge for Duel Academy turning its back on me, and Begia took my sister! They took her and plugged her in, and they're sucking away at her emotions!_ Tears started welling up in Michael's eyes. _They wouldn't have released my sister if I kept going. They'd just use her to make me a puppet. That's why I'm going to set all of them free tomorrow. So that we can finally put all of this behind us..._

_

* * *

_

_Has Arlene forgiven me for what I did to her?_ Bryon was trying to lie as still as possible to keep up the pretence that he was asleep. _I contributed to burning down the dorms, and she hated me for it. That's probably why I'm going with Adela instead tomorrow...Arlene can't have forgiven me enough yet. Maybe once everything is back to normal...if we can get through this and somehow get Duel Academy back to normal..._

_

* * *

_

Hamon Ayver stared at one of the many large green tubes. Inside each one was a child, muttering in their sleep.

"It's funny how Fate works," Hamon thought aloud. " Who would have thought that I would be the one to help decide people's Fate? Who would have thought that Fate would throw an obstacle at me in the form of some teenagers and Erick Guerra? Couldn't get rid of him after I beat him of course, I'm not that inhumane. It wont be long until I can bury him." He paused as he watched the children. "Fate does love its theatrics. Children indeed!" He walked away.

* * *

Michael, Adela, Fay - supported by Bryon - and Arlene stood at the place they had agreed, all silently willing themselves to have courage. None of them spoke as they made their way to Begia.


	23. The Three Duels Part 1

Hamon Ayver was sitting alone a small dark room, concealed within the many layers of the Begia base he was in. The only things in it were a desk, a chair and a Duel Disk with a deck inside it. He knew that he would need it today.

"Sir!" The door to the room flew open and a young girl appeared, looking mortified. "Sir, five people have entered the base! They managed to get past the preliminary guards! They..."

"Where are they all headed?" The girl looked surprised, but recovered quickly and gave her report.

"Sir! Two of them - a boy and a girl - are headed towards the main computer! Another boy and girl - the girl is unconscious - are headed to the Emotion Absorption Area! And another girl is headed for you!" Hamon gave a small smile.

"Make every attempt to stop those trying to make it to the Emotion Absorption Area. Evacuate all host bodies and transfer them to the Duel Academy Facility. Don't bother too much about the two making their way to the computer - they don't have a hope in beating it. And make no attempts to stop the girl who is making her way to me." The girl was clearly shocked by Hamon's choice of tactics, but made no mention of it as she rushed out.

_It's a shame I already know how this is all going to work out. Except for my duel for some reason...oh well! Let the games begin!_

_

* * *

_

"I can't believe anyone would waste their time making a computer duel to defend itself!" Adela and Bryon were running through the corridors of the Begia Base towards the main computer. "They could have just gone for the normal means, or guard it with people who actually have weapons as opposed to Duel Disks!"

"Then we wouldn't have a chance, ADELA!" Bryon replied with a big grin.

"Whatever. Let's just beat this computer and then get out of here." The two continued running along the corridors, until at long last they entered a deserted room with a large computer screen. The two approached it cautiously, eyeing the machinery with apprehension. When they were a few metres away from it, the computer spurred into life.

"Intruders detected. Preparing defence program. Initiating Duel Disk."

* * *

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Michael snarled as two Begia members blocked his route to his destination.

"We're not letting you through here." One of the members replied simply. "Not unless you defeat us in a duel." Michael snorted.

"Defeat you in a duel? This base has got to have the worst defence system I've ever seen! No guns, no security cameras, nothing! Nothing except some "guards" who think they can duel. I'll take both of you on!" The two members looked at each other.

"Challenge accepted. You'd better hope Fate isn't too harsh on you."

* * *

"I've been waiting for you, Ms. Ramirez." Arlene was about to make a sarcastic retort when Hamon burst out laughing. "Oh! So sorry! I've been wanting to say that for the longest time! Now, for formality's sake, what brings you here?"

"To bring this place down. You've made it very easy for us." Hamon gave a warm smile and spread his arms.

"Well of course I did! This isn't a base that's of much importance to me, you know. It used to be Begia's main base, but my how we've grown! We have our own island now!"

"Why would you use Duel Academy Island for a base?"

"Lots of kids for absorbing emotions of course..."

"Not likely since a lot of them died or left! What's the real reason?" Hamon laughed again.

"I wont say just yet. You may find out from someone else though...should you survive this of course."

"Then can you tell me why Begia suddenly gets to decide people's fate?" Hamon gave a knowing smile.

"Ah! Memories! I find that the story is best told when dueling. I'm just not much of a storyteller otherwise!"

* * *

"Beginning turn." The Computer called out in its metallic voice. "Set one card and one monster. End turn."

D.C: 4000  
Bryon: 4000  
Adela: 4000

"OKAY!" Bryon picked up his sixth card and began his turn. "I play Meteor of Destruction, to inflict 1000 points of damage to you!"

"Activate trap. Hallowed Life Barrier. Discarding one card from hand to activate." The computer screen was showing the cards it had played as well as the backs of the cards in its hand. One of them vanished as the computer spoke. "Hallowed Life Barrier negates all damage for 1 turn." Bryon gave a frown.

_The computer couldn't have known I'd play a burn deck, could it?_

"I summon Solar Flare Dragon and attack your face down!" Bryon's monster charged into the face down, then bounced back as it failed to destroy it.

D.C: 4000  
Bryon: 3700  
Adela: 4000

"Card flipped was Des Koala. Activating effect. Opponent loses 400 life points for each card in hand." There was a pause. "Recalculating. Two opponents. Both players take 400 damage for each card in hand." Adela and Bryon tried hard not to yell out in pain as their life points took a loss.

D.C: 4000  
Bryon: 2500  
Adela: 2000

"I'll set a card and end my turn." Bryon was clearly worried by his incompetence on the first turn.

"My move then," Adela said quietly.

_Half of my life points were gone before I even made a move! The Computer's good, but not that good._

"I summon Element Saurus (1500/1200) to the field! When a Fire Monster is on the field, it gains 500 attack points, and as there's Solar Flare Dragon..." Her monster glowed as it absorbed some of Solar Flare Dragon's heat (1500/1200 - 2000/1200). "That's not all. Because Des Koala's an Earth type, now Element Saurus can negate the effect of any effect monster it destroys in battle. Now, destroy the Koala!" Element Saurus shot a large fireball at Des Koala, destroying it. "I'll set a card and call it a turn."

* * *

"I don't think we've introduced ourselves," one of the Begia guards sneered at Michael. "I'm Alvaro and this is Donovan, a pleasure to meet you! What's your name?"

"Michael."

"Alright, Michael, you can go first!" Alvaro gave a mock bow to Michael as he drew his card.

Michael: 4000  
Alvaro: 4000  
Donovan: 4000

"I'll start by Summoning White Magician Pikeru (1200/0000) to the field. I'll then set two cards face down and end my turn."

"Okay then!" Alvaro seemed to be enjoying himself as he drew his card. "I discard one card from my hand to summon The Tricky (2000/1200) to the field, and now it'll destroy your monster!"

"Nope. Go, Astral Barrier and Spirit Barrier! Astral Barrier can change your attack to a direct one, and as long as Spirit Barrier is on the field, and I have a monster as well, any battle damage I take is reduced to 0!" Alvaro shrugged and set a card.

"My move then!" Donovan announced. "I set two cards face down, then tribute them both to summon Anteatereatingant (2000/0500)! This card also allows me to destroy a spell or trap card on the field provided my monster forfeits its attack this turn, so I'll choose your Spirit Barrier! Next I'll summon Chainsaw Insect (2400/0000) to the field!" Donovan gave a smirk at this point. "Now you have a choice. When my insect attacks a monster you draw a card. So. You can either lose a monster and life points but gain a card, OR you can lose a lot of life points and not gain a card. Which will it be? Chainsaw Insect attack!"

"Astral Barrier will redirect the attack to my life points!" Michael yelled.

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 4000  
Donovan: 4000

"Your move." Donovan informed Michael.

* * *

Arlene: 4000  
Hamon: 4000

"I'll start by summoning Balance Saviour (1500/1000) in defence mode. I'll then set a card and end my turn."

"And then mine begins! Hmm...I'll summon Earth Statue (0000/0000) to the field, and I'll get it to attack your monster!"

"What?" Arlene watched as the Statue made its way to her monster. "But your monster will be destroyed! You'll lose 1500 life points!"

"Really?" Hamon asked. "I was under the impression I would gain life points. Watch!" The statue collided with Arlene's monster, causing both to explode and Hamon's life points to go up!

Arlene: 4000  
Hamon: 5500

"Ahh, my statues. Let me explain how these marvellous things work! If my statues attack a monster of the same attribute as itself, three events occur: one, they destroy both monsters; two, I gain life points equal to the other monster's original attack; three, I can summon another statue monster with the same name, so another Earth Statue comes out!"

"But now Balance Saviour's effect activates!" Arlene declared. "When it's removed from the field, I can bring out a Balance Warrior from my deck and give it a Light or Dark Aura, so I choose Balance Warrior Gyunn (1600/1400) and give it one Light Aura to bring its attack up by 400 (1600/1400 - 2000/1400)." Hamon clapped his hands.

"Bravo! Right, one face down card and that's me!"

"Okay, I draw..."

"And I activate my face down, Next to Be Lost! I select one monster on the field and then send a monster from my deck with the same name to the graveyard! Right, carry on."

_What's this guy playing at? His dueling style is...a little eccentric. His monsters must do something when they're in the graveyard._

"I summon my Balance Warrior Kirud (1500/1500) to the field. Now, Gyunn will destroy your Earth Statue, and Kirud will attack you directly!"

Arlene: 4000  
Hamon: 0500

"I'll call it a turn there." Hamon gave a mischevious grin and picked up a card.

"Now! I'll remove all three of my Earth Statues to summon from my fusion deck Earth Incarnation (1500/1500)!" Arlene looked up at a gigantic statue that resembled a rocky monster. "Now, Earth Incarnation gains 500 attack and defence points for each Earth monster on our fields, including itself! So if we include Earth Incarnation and Kirud, my monster gains 1000 attack and defence points (1500/1500 - 2500/2500)! Now, Earth Incarnation will destroy Kirud!"

Arlene: 3000  
Hamon: 2500

"What the...how did you gain all those life points?"

"Simple! When Earth Incarnation destroys an Earth Monster, I can either increase my life points by the destroyed monsters attack when it was destroyed, or increase Earth Incarnation's attack after the battle, so I chose the former! I'll set a card and call it a turn."

"You know, there's one flaw in your plan." Hamon looked intruiged. "Not only did your monster just lose 500 attack and defence points by destroying Kirud, I also don't have any other Earth monsters!" Hamon chuckled.

"You think I didn't figure that out? Pick up your card." Arlene hesitated, then did so. "And now I activate DNA Transplant! This allows me to change the attributes of all face up monsters on the field to one attribute, and I choose Earth!" Earth Incarnation swelled in size as Gyunn became an Earth Attribute (2000/2000 - 2500/2500). "So. You were saying?"

* * *

New cards...

Balance Saviour  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1000  
Attribute: Earth  
Level: 3  
Type: Spellcaster  
Image: A woman wearing a wizard's hat and blue robes with a broad smile on her face.  
Effect: When this card is removed from the field, special summon from your deck one monster with Balance Warrior in its name. You may also give the monster one Light Aura or one Dark Aura.

Earth Statue  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 0000  
Attribute: Earth  
Level: 2  
Type: Rock  
Image: A clay statue of a human face.  
Effect: When this card battles a monster with an Earth Attribute, Earth Statue and the opponent's monster are destroyed and increase your life points equal to the original attack of your opponent's destroyed monster. Then you may special summon from your hand or deck an "Earth Statue".

Earth Incarnation  
ATK: 1500 DEF: 1500  
Attribute: Earth  
Level: 6  
Type: Rock  
Image: A large warrior made up of 3 Earth Statues.  
Fusion Requirements: Earth Statue + Earth Statue + Earth Statue  
Effect: By removing 3 Earth Statues from your graveyard to your out of play zone, you may special summon this card from your fusion deck. This card gains 500 attack and defence points for every EARTH attribute monster on the field. When this card destroys an opponent's EARTH monster, you may either increase your life points by the destroyed monster's attack when it was destroyed, or Earth Incarnation's attack after battle. This card cannot be destroyed in battle by an EARTH attribute monster. During the damage step when this card battles, you may tribute 1 monster to increase your life points by an amount equal to the tributed monster's original attack.


	24. The Three Duels Part 2

"Analysing Duel Status...duelist 1 has 2500 life points, 3 cards on field, 1 set card and Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) on the field. Duelist 2 has 2000 life points, 1 set card and Element Saurus (1500/1200) powered up as Fire attribute is present on the field (1500/1200 - 2000/1200). Duel computer..."

"Oh for fu...YOU HAVE FULL LIFE POINTS, NO CARDS ON THE FIELD AND 3 CARDS IN YOUR HAND, SO DRAW YOUR BLOODY CARD AND MAKE YOUR MOVE!" Bryon gawped at Adela's outburst at the computer. If she was expecting any response, she would have been disappointed, as the Duel Computer recited its duel status over Adela's yells and drew its card.

"Draw 1 card. Summoning Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) to the field." Bryon snorted.

"Pfft. What a monster. I'll deal with that no problem."

"Activating magic card," the Duel Computer continued. "Axe of Despair equipped to Archfiend Soldier boosting its attack by 1000 (1900/1500 - 2900/1500)."

"Umm..."

"Activating magic card Horn of the Unicorn. Equipping to Archfiend Soldier to increase its attack and defence by 700 (2900/1500 - 3600/2200)."

"Okay..." Bryon said while taking a step back. "You can stop now..."

"Activating magic card Mage Power. Equipping to Archfiend soldier. Mage Power increases equipped monster's attack by 500 for each magic or trap card on user's field. Calculating...1500 point increase to attack and defence (3600/2200 - 5100/3700). Attack Solar Flare Dragon."

"Shit." The Duel Computer's pumped up monster slashed at Solar Flare Dragon with tremendous force. Bryon was flung back and his Duel Disk shattered, scattering his cards all across the room as his life points hit 0.

D.C: 4000  
Bryon: 0000  
Adela: 2000

"BRYON!" Adela gazed at Bryon's limp form, then back at the incredibly powerful monster that she had to face alone.

* * *

_Well this is a fine mess I'm in._ Michael struggled to focus as he came to grips with the severity of his situation. _I'm facing two opponents at the same time. If this keeps up I'll lose next turn and then...No! I have to beat one of them this turn. Now let's see..._ Michael surveyed the field. _Alvaro has full life points, The Tricky (2000/1200) and a set card. Donovan also has 4000 life points, no set cards but two monsters: Chainsaw Insect (2400/0000) and Anteatereatingant (2000/0500). I have White Magician Pikeru (1200/0000) and Astral Barrier. Hmm..._

"Are you done thinking or what? Keep this up and we'll skip your turn!" Donovan taunted. Michael's attention snapped back to reality and he drew his card.

"White Magician Pikeru's effect activates, so I gain 400 life points for every monster on my field!

Michael: 2000  
Alvaro: 4000  
Donovan: 4000

"So you're up a grand total of 400 points? Go you." Alvaro noted sarcastically.

"I'm not done. First I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Alvaro's face down. Then I play Advanced Ritual Art! This allows me to send normal monsters in my deck to my graveyard in order to summon from my hand a Ritual Monster whose stars are equal to the Ritual monster I want to summon. So I'll send 2 level 4 monsters to summon from my hand Reshef the Dark Being (2500/1500)!" Michael took a moment to marvel at his new monster. "My monster has an effect that allows me to take control of an opponent's monster for one turn by discarding a magic card from my hand. I'll use this effect to take control of The Tricky!" Michael discarded a card. Reshef started emitting a faint glow and directed it at The Tricky, which then moved over to Michael's side. "Now, Reshef! Attack Alvaro's life points directly!"

Michael: 2000  
Alvaro: 1500  
Donovan: 4000

"Urgh..." Alvaro winced from the attack.

"Now, The Tricky will wipe out the rest of your life points!" The Tricky moved towards Alvaro.

"Chainsaw Insect intercept!" Donovan's monster rushed to protect Alvaro's life points. The Tricky stopped.

"I'll have The Tricky attack Chainsaw Insect!" Michael shielded himself as shards of The Tricky flew past him.

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 1500  
Donovan: 4000

"Now I get to draw a card thanks to Chainsaw Insect's effect." Michael noted. "I'll set 2 card and finish there." Alvaro picked up a card.

"I'll summon Spear Dragon (1900/0000) to the field, and I'll attack your Pikeru!" Michael gave a small grin.

"It's over for you! I activate my 2 face downs, Staunch Defender and Shrink! Staunch Defender redirects all of my opponents monsters' attacks to a monster on my field which I choose, so I pick Reshef. Shrink cuts a monster's attack by half, and I'll choose Spear Dragon to receive that. So, say goodbye to the rest of your life points, Alvaro!" Spear Dragon shrunk in size as its attack points were reduced (1900/0000 - 0950/0000) and then rammed in to Reshef, screeching in pain as it was destroyed.

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 4000

Alvaro grimaced and sunk to his knees.

"Don't think you're exempt from Staunch Defender," Michael pointed out to Donovan. "Your monsters have to attack Reshef as well!" Both of Donovan's monsters collided with Reshef, causing them to explode. While Donovan's life points went down, Michael drew a card thanks to Chainsaw Insect attacking.

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 3400

"My move then," Donovan said as he drew. "Let's go back to the beginning, shall we? I activate Field Devolution! I can only activate this when there is at least 1 insect type in my graveyard. I then have to half my life points and bring yours back up to full. Also I cannot attack this turn. For all of this, every card on the field, graveyard, out of play zone and hand are returned to the deck, and then we each draw 3 cards." Both of them did so.

Michael: 4000  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 1700

"Next I'll summon my Chainsaw Insect again, and set 1 card face down. Your move."

* * *

"Are you ready to tell me yet?"

"Tell you what, Arlene?" Arlene bristled.

"Don't give me that. Why you think that you can decide people's fate!" Hamon mulled it over, then shook his head laughing.

"Sorry, Arlene, but you're losing! Maybe you should concentrate on getting yourself out of your predicament first, hmm?"

Arlene: 3000  
Hamon: 2500

"You're only acting high and mighty because you think that with your DNA Surgery turning all my monsters to Earth attributes, that makes your Earth Incarnation (1500/1500 - 2500/2500) invincible."

"Well, I do have 4 cards in my hand as well while you're analysing the field."

"Fine. Watch as I turn this around. I activate Artificial Aura, paying 1000 life points to add 1 Light Aura to Gyunn, raising its attack (2000/1400 - 2400/1400)!"

Arlene: 2000  
Hamon: 2500

"Next I'll reveal my face down, Aura Illusion, which doubles the amount of Auras my monsters on the field have until the end of this turn. Then I'll play Disrupting the Balance, which lets me sacrifice my Gyunn to fusion summon a monster whose requirements have been fulfilled by the tributed monster. Since Gyunn had 3 Light Auras, I can fusion summon Warrior of the Light Aura - Gyunn (3000/1400)!" Gyunn changed in shape, growing steadily larger while his tattered robes were replaced by shining silver armour. Hamon clapped appreciatively.

"Bravo! Looks like I can't counter that one!"

"Gyunn, destroy his Earth Incarnation!" Gyunn rushed towards Earth Incarnation, slashing it cleanly in two...before it joined itself back together!

Arlene: 2000  
Hamon: 2000

"I take it Earth Incarnation can't be destroyed by Earth Attributes?" Arlene asked, trying to stay calm. Hamon simply nodded. "I'll set 2 cards face down and end my turn."

"And now mine begins! I'll summon Battle Ox (1700/1000) to the field, which brings up my Earth Incarnation's attack and defence by 500 (2500/2500 - 3000/3000). Now, Earth incarnation will attack Gyunn! Then Battle Ox will attack you directly!" Arlene activated her face downs.

"Don't think too far ahead. I activate Sacrifice for Aura, allowing me to discard 1 card from my hand to add 2 Light or Dark Auras to a monster, so I'll add 2 Light Auras to Gyunn. Even better, Gyunn receives double the amount of Auras from card effects, so it gains 4 Auras! For each Light Aura Gyunn has, its attack and defence goes up by 500, meaning Gyunn gets a 2000 point boost (3000/1400 - 5000/3400) so it's game over!"

"Or is it? I tribute Battle Ox to activate Earth Incarnation's effect! By sacrificing an Earth Monster, I can increase my life points by the attack points of the tributed monster, so it looks like I'm still in!" Gyunn and Earth Incarnation clashed, then moved back to their respective fields as Hamon's life points were raised then lowered.

Arlene: 2000  
Hamon: 1200

"I wouldn't say that I was losing at this point, would you?" Arlene asked. Hamon shook his head and gave a booming laugh.

"Not at all, Arlene, not at all! Right, I think it's time to tell you more about these Fate cards."

* * *

New Cards...

Field Devolution  
Normal Magic  
Image: A large city shrinking.  
Effect: You can only activate this card if there is at least 1 Insect Type monster in your graveyard. Half your life points and restore your opponent's life points to 8000. This effect cannot be negated or reversed to inflict damage to your opponent. Return all cards on the field, out of play zone, graveyard and players' hands back to the deck and shuffle, then both players draw 3 cards. You cannot attack this turn.

Aura Illusion  
Normal Trap  
Image: A Light Aura with two silhouettes of Light Auras behind it.  
Effect: Double the amount of Auras monsters on the field have until the end of the turn.

Warrior of the Light Aura - Gyunn  
ATK: 3000 DEF: 1400  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 8  
Type: Warrior  
Image: Balance Warrior Gyunn dressed in silver robes wearing gauntlets.  
Fusion Requirements: Balance Warrior Gyunn with 3 Light Auras.  
Effect: This card can only be fusion summoned by Disrupting the Balance. If Balance Warriors on your side of the field have no Light or Dark Auras, you may add 1 Light Aura to each Balance Warrior who meets this requirement. This card gains 2 Light Auras instead of one from card effects. This card cannot accumulate Dark Auras. This card gains 500 attack and defence points for each Light Aura it has. Remove 3 Light Auras to either attack your opponent's life points directly with this card or increase the attack of a monster on your side of the field by 1500 points.

Sacrifice For Aura  
Normal Trap  
Image: An altar where Light Auras and Dark Auras are circling.  
Effect: Discard one card from your hand to add 2 Light or Dark Auras to a monster.


	25. Switch, Lie and Interfere

"Well, Arlene! What would you like to know? Bear in mind there are some questions I won't answer." Arlene replied almost instantly.

"Why do you think you can use these Fate cards to decide what happens to people?" Hamon gave a large grin.

"Come now, Arlene. Don't start spouting what's right and what's wrong without knowing the facts! Now, a few years ago Begia didn't really have any goals at all! We were people who had been shunned by society and clung together for support. We raised money and kept ourselves going, keeping ourselves to ourselves."

"But..." Hamon waved a hand at Arlene to silence her.

"Yes, yes. Anyway, I did not wish to be confined within this facility all of my life, hiding away, so I decided to go on a trip! Well, not really a trip per se, more just...walking around...the city..." Hamon trailed off. "UNTIL! I was able to raise enough money to travel to Egypt! Going there finally opened my eyes to the actions of people. Not that anything particularly bad happened there of course! I met a woman who took sympathy on my life story and took me in to her home. It was there that she introduced me to these Fate Cards!"

"And do you know where Fate cards come from?" Arlene asked. Hamon shook his head.

"Not the foggiest. We digress though. The woman taught me how to duel and how to use these cards. She said that we should all be judged, then gave Begia the task of doing so!" There was a pause.

"Hold on. That's it?"

"What do you mean, "that's it"? What more could there be?"

"A stranger gives you cards and tells you to judge people, maybe even kill them and you do it right off the bat?"

"It's not as black and white as that, Arlene!" Hamon boomed. "Surely you don't think that all of us are good people, do you?"

"You certainly aren't."

"That's just a matter of perspective! Think hard about the people you know. Are they only good?" Arlene racked her brains, determined to prove Hamon wrong.

"Ethan." Hamon shook his head sadly.

"Tell me, Arlene, what do you think happens with The Infection of Fate card?"

"A person gets infected and turns evil."

"Oh? It's not that simple. The Infection of Fate simply brings out the hidden darker side within us. The evil is not external."

"I don't believe you."

"I'll prove you wrong in a minute. Now, anyone else who's entirely good?"

_Bryon's not._ Arlene thought to herself. _What about Michael, or Adela or Fay?_ Arlene voiced her thoughts to Hamon.

"Michael has killed, so has Adela, and Fay..." Hamon chuckled. "All the dark emotions within her have made the Fate cards possible."

"Michael and Adela haven't killed."

"Oh come now, you think I don't know about my own staff? Oh, sorry ex-staff. They have killed." Arlene couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I wish I had some dirt on you just to prove my point further, but your life has been rather bland up to this point." Arlene glared at Hamon.

"How do you know all this?" Hamon tapped his nose knowingly.

"Well, I think it's time I left for Duel Academy Island."

"You're in the middle of a duel!"

"Yes yes, I'll give you another opponent. Now, you said that Ethan was solely good?" The door to the room opened and in stepped Ethan, looking like a monster. Arlene took a step back subconsciously. "Ethan, I want you to duel this girl. Good luck, Arlene!" Hamon waved to Arlene. Ethan leered at Arlene as she returned her cards to her deck and shuffled, conflicting emotions racing through her head as she did so.

* * *

_I can't believe I have to face THAT!_ Adela gazed at the computer's monster, an Archfiend Soldier (1900/1500) powered up by several equip cards (1900/1500 - 5100/3700). _Bryon..._ She turned to face Bryon who was still unconscious. There was no sign of blood, though Bryon flying across the room from the attack didn't indicate that Bryon was uninjured. Adela picked up her card, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I play heavy storm, to destroy all magic and trap cards on the field!" Large gusts of wind circled the field, destroying all the equip cards on Archfiend Soldier, as well as Adela's face down. "Now I'll summon Blazing Inapachi (1850/0000) to the field, which raises Element Saurus' attack as a Fire attribute's now on the field (1500/1200 - 2000/1200). Element Saurus, attack Archfiend Soldier, and Blazing Inapachi will attack directly!" Element Saurus charged into Archfiend Soldier then raced back to its respective field. Blazing Inapachi engulfed the Duel Computer's field with flames before hobbling back to Adela's side of the field as well.

D.C: 2150  
Bryon: 0000  
Adela: 2000

The lights in the room flickered and the Duel Computer seemed to start malfunctioning.

"LoSs of 1950 liFE poInts...LoSs of 1950 liFE poInts..."

* * *

"Hmm?" Hamon had been walking through Begia's corridors for a few minutes when the lights started flickering. His expression became cold. "They actually inflicted damage to the computer? I'd better sort this one out." Hamon started running towards the room where the Duel Computer was.

* * *

_So, we're back to the start?_ Michael looked at the 3 cards in his hand, and then at the Chainsaw Insect (2400/0000) and set card on Donovan's field.

"It's over." Michael declared. "I summon my Ebon Magician Curran (1200/0000) to the field, then I'll play Snatch Steal, allowing me to take control of one of your monsters by equipping it with this card. Looks like Chainsaw Insect is working for me now." Donovan was impassive as Snatch Steal took effect. "Curran, attack him directly! Chainsaw Insect, finish him!"

"Curran will get through," Donovan informed Michael as Curran attacked. "However, Magic Cylinder will cancel Chainsaw Insects attack and inflict 2400 points of damage to you!"

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 0500

"My move," Donovan noted. "And I gain 1000 life points thanks to Snatch Steal's effect!"

Michael: 1600  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 1500

"Now I'll summon a second Chainsaw Insect, and attack Curran with it! Sure, you draw a card when it attacks, but it's worth it if it leaves you with only a small amount of life points."

Michael: 0400  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 1500

"I'll leave it at that." Michael picked up his card and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I summon Cure Mermaid (1500/0800) to my field. I'll get my Chainsaw Insect to attack yours, wiping both out, and then Cure Mermaid will finish this for good!" Donovan gave a small shrug as the duel ended.

Michael: 0400  
Alvaro: 0000  
Donovan: 0000

"Now, let me through!" Donovan gave him a quizzical look.

"You actually thought we would let you? Alvaro." Michael felt a gun pressed to the back of his head.

* * *

"This duel's finished." Adela turned round to see Hamon staring her down. "You're better than I thought."

_The computer was just an idiot._ Adela didn't voice her thoughts.

"But I can't let you turn off the power here. At least, not yet." Hamon brought out a small stunner that was emitting a green glow. "Sorry about this." He stabbed at Adela, causing her to double up in pain before collapsing to the floor. Hamon moved over to Bryon and thrust the stunner into his stomach. Bryon's eyes snapped open as he opened his mouth to scream, before his eyes closed again. Hamon walked to the door and gave a glance back at the computer, which seemed to be working normally. "I bet they thought this was only a stunner. Poor kids." Then he was gone.


	26. Awakening

"I'll go first," The mark on Ethan's forehead pulsed as he drew his card. "I play Preparations for the End! Now I pay half of my life points and remove from play all Fate cards from my hand, deck and graveyard!"

Ethan: 2000  
Arlene: 4000

"Then I'll summon Genetic Warwolf (2000/0100) in attack mode and call it a turn!" Ethan frowned at the cards he had in his hand.

_All of them are just monsters! No other magic or trap cards at all! I'll beat this girl without them but...this scenario seems familiar..._ On the other side of the field, Arlene was remembering something about the monster Ethan had just summoned.

_Genetic Warwolf..._ Ethan's monster snarled at her, but she was too consumed with memories. _Devin Pickett played that card. When did Ethan get one?_ Arlene focused on her cards as she made her move.

"I'll draw, and then I'll summon Balance Warrior Emri (1400/1600) to the field. Next I'll play Dian Keto the Cure Master to raise my life points by 1000 and add a Light Aura to Emri!"

Ethan: 2000  
Arlene: 5000

"I'll then activate Emri's effect, allowing me to remove a Light Aura from him to destroy one monster on the field and send it to the graveyard, so your monster is destroyed." Genetic Warwolf gave a piercing howl as a Light Aura encircled it. Ethan's monster struggled, before it glowed a ghostly white and shattered into pixels. "Now Emri will attack directly!"

Ethan: 0600  
Arlene: 5000

"You're not evil, Ethan. I'm going to prove that." Ethan chuckled as he drew.

"What, you think that thanks to the green mark on my forehead I'm not myself? I'm in full control of my senses, and I'm finally able to see the world for what it is, and I'm going to change it."

"By killing people?"

"I'm suprised, Arlene. I didn't think you'd be as naive as this. The world is not a good place. There are selfish and twisted humans that need to be stopped."

"And you think Hamon isn't?"

"It's all about seeing things in a different way. Like your friends. You thought they were solely good, but now you're not sure. After all, they've killed."

"I DON'T believe that!" Arlene responded with a fierce tone. Ethan gave a small shrug at this.

"Ask them yourself. Should you get through this of course."

* * *

"You know you're really not giving Begia a good image by holding a gun to the back of my head," Michael noted. Donovan shot Michael a patronizing look.

"You actually think you're going to get through this to tell people? Give me a break! We're the ones in control of the situation, not you."

"Or so you think." There was a gunshot, and Michael heard Alvaro collapse to the floor.

"You son of a..." Donovan began before Michael heard another gunshot and felt something whistle past him before connecting with Donovan, killing him. Michael had barely begun to register what had happened when a hand grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to see Erick Guerra holding a gun.

"You're Erick Guerra." Erick gave a nod.

"If you were wanting to get the kids, they're already gone. Hamon took them to another facility."

"Where." Michael replied immediately.

"I'll show you. Follow me." Erick started running in the opposite direction to the door Michael had until only a few seconds ago longed to open. Now the door was meaningless and Michael followed Erick, his mind moving slowly as he registered what had just happened. In his haste, he had completely forgotten about Fay.

* * *

"You know, Arlene, I think you could have beaten me in that last turn." Arlene said nothing, focusing her attention on the cards in her hand. "Not doing so was a mistake. I..."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I've said before, I've seen the world in a whole new light. I hope you get The Infection of Fate so that you..."

"I don't WANT to see your twisted vision!"

"Arlene...what do you think of dictators?"

"What?"

"What do you think about them?"

"They...they..." Arlene struggled to put together her thoughts.

_What's wrong with me? Hamon and Ethan are messing with my head!_

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you think they're evil?"

"Yes." Ethan looked patronizingly at Arlene.

"Evil. You're still so naive-"

"Make your point or shut up." Arlene snapped. Ethan nodded.

"What do you think dictators think of themselves? Do you think they believe they are evil?"

"No, because they're too consumed in their thoughts to even think about it."

"Then it's a matter of perspective. How do you know that you're on the right side?" Arlene looked incredulous.

"You're KILLING people! You're choosing their fate! How is that right?"

"The Fate cards are choosing their fate, not Begia."

"You're the ones who are using them as a means to kill people! That's second degree murder!"

"And what would you say if the people whose fates we were deciding had committed wrongs?"

"There's prison for that. There's courts and-"

"They'll get put in for a few years for murder and get out to commit again. How is that right?"

"Look. I don't have the time for your discussion on what's right and wrong. Just get back to the duel." Ethan shrugged and carried on with his turn, but in Arlene's mind her thoughts were becoming confused.

"Alright then, I believe I was about to summon Mad Dog of Darkness (1900/1400) who will destroy Emri." Ethan summoned a dog with demonic eyes that was foaming at the mouth, which ran directly for Emri and sunk its teeth into Arlene's monster causing it to shatter.

Ethan: 0600  
Arlene: 4500

"I'll finish by setting a card."

"I draw..." Arlene stopped mid sentence at the sound of Ethan laughing. "Are you going to tell me what's funny?" Ethan revealed a face down card.

"I activate Shape Shifters, which I can only activate by increasing your life points until there is an 8000 point difference!"

Ethan: 0600  
Arlene: 8600

"Is that it?"

"For now." Ethan smirked and his facial features became twisted as the green mark on his forehead pulsed.

"I'll discard a Balance Warrior from my hand to summon Balance Fighter (2100/0800) to the field, who will attack your monster!" Ethan laughed as the attack was carried out.

Ethan: 0400  
Arlene: 8600

"Thank you, Arlene, because now my trap card activates! I can now summon a monster whose attack is - at the most - 300 points greater than the one you just destroyed from my deck, so I'll bring out Empress Mantis (2200/1400)! What do you think of my trap card, Arlene? Every time you destroy one of my monsters in battle I can bring out an even stronger one from my deck!"

"That might work in battle, but not through card effects. I play Aura Revenge, which can only be activated after the battle phase. For each card with Balance in its name in the graveyard and out of play zone, I can destroy one monster on the field. I have two, but I'll only use one for this card effect to destroy Empress Mantis!" A large number of Light Auras and Dark Auras swarmed the field, engulfing Empress Mantis and destroying it. Ethan gave a wide smile at her actions.

"Poor Arlene. I forgot to mention. If my monster is destroyed by a card effect, I get to special summon a monster with a level equal to the monster destroyed or one star higher from my deck, so come on out Wingweaver (2750/2400)!" A large fairy with six wings emerged on the field. "What are you going to do now, Arlene?"

_I'll think of something. I can't lose to Ethan since he's played those Fate cards! And..._ Arlene suddenly recalled the conversation she had had with Erick Guerra. _If Ethan loses and gets Reversal of Fate, then he'll finally come to his senses! I just wish I'd remembered that earlier...Ethan was right, I could have beaten him before._

_

* * *

_

Fay had been lying in the Begia corridor for a few minutes before she started stirring. She rolled to the side and snapped open her eyelids.

"What...?" She shakily got to her feet and looked at the familiar surroundings. She rubbed her forehead as she tried to collect her thoughts. As she did, an image of a young boy flashed through her mind before being forgotten. Fay began to slowly make her way through the Begia complex.

* * *

Before people start saying that Fay's supposed to be half-dead, I know I know. So how is she awake? Hee hee...

I've realised that the concept of Balance Warriors is a little tricky, so if anyone wants to PM me about it that's fine, but in the meantime, I'll be going over past chapters and adding card lists of all new cards I've created, starting with this one.

Balance Fighter  
ATK: 2100 DEF: 0800  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 5  
Type: Warrior / Effect  
Image: A rugged looking female warrior with a scimtar.  
Effect: You can special summon this card from your hand by discarding a card with "Balance Warrior" in its name from your hand.

Aura Revenge  
Normal Magic  
Image: A frightened Mataza the Zapper surrounded by Light and Dark Auras.  
Effect: This card can only be activated if you have already conducted your battle phase this turn. For each card with "Balance Warrior" in its name in your graveyard and out of play zone, you may destroy one monster on the field.

Shape Shifters  
Continuous Trap  
Image: A Petit Moth with a shadowy version of Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth directly behind it.  
Effect: Increase your opponent's life points until your opponent's life points exceeds your life points by 8000. This effect cannot be negated or reversed to inflict damage to your opponent. When a monster you control is destroyed by battle, you may summon a monster from your deck whose attack points are at most 300 points greater than the monster destroyed. If a monster you control is destroyed by a card effect while face up, you may summon a monster from your deck whose level is at most one star greater than the monster destroyed.


	27. Going Back

Adela felt weak as she slowly returned to consciousness. She shakily got to her feet, then winced as she became aware of a throbbing pain in her right arm.

_What..?_ Rolling back her sleeve, Adela found a thin trickle of blood escaping from her arm. Adela attempted to clean it away to see the cut, and found a very small thin opening in her arm. Adela rummaged through her pockets to see if there was something to stop the flow of blood, but finding nothing had to resort to tearing off a piece of her jumper and wrapping it around the cut. After tightening the make shift bandage, Adela became aware of the faint sound of the Duel Computer's voice.

"LoSs...1950...PoIntS..." Adela took off her Duel Disk and charged up to the computer, stabbing at its control panel with frantic jabs. After several minutes of this the computer finally went silent.

_Great. We think of doing that AFTER we're knocked out. Ah well, probably had a protection barrier or something weird protecting it before._ Reattaching her Duel Disk she then went to Bryon and started shaking him.

"Bryon...Bryon...BRYON!" Bryon finally came to and stood up, then lost balance as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He grabbed onto Adela for support, and once he was able to stand grinned at her.

"We won the duel?" Adela hesitated.

"After you got knocked out, Hamon came in and did the same to me." Bryon looked shocked. He remained silent, looking around the room. His eyes eventually settled on the Duel Computer and before Adela knew what was happening he had started charging at it. "WAIT! I already did that." Bryon beamed at her and made for the exit, then grabbed his leg.

"OW!" He pulled up his trousers to reveal a cut identical to Adela's, except that it was on his ankle. Bryon had a small plaster in his pocket and applied it.

"Do you have any more?" Adela enquired. Bryon pulled out another plaster and applied it to her cut.

"YOU have one as WELL? Where did they come from?" Adela shrugged, thinking back to her encounter with Hamon.

_Did he have something to do with this?_

_

* * *

_

"Well, Arlene? Are you finished or what?" Arlene surveyed the field.

_All I have to do is get rid of Shape Shifters or make him lose 400 life points. No problem._

"I'll set a card and call it a turn." Ethan grinned maliciously and drew his card.

"This duel will be over in less than four turns." Arlene folded her arms to make it obvious she didn't believe him.

"How would you know something like that?" Ethan pointed to the green mark on his forehead.

"This thing does more than pulse on my forehead. Getting back to the duel, I play the magic card Healing Fission. Then I'll sacrifice my Wingweaver to summon Frostsaurus (2600/1700)!" The ice covered dinosaur gave a chilling roar before assuming a neutral stance. "Now Healing Fission activates, so whenever a monster of mine is sent to the graveyard by tributing I gain 1000 life points!"

Ethan: 1400  
Arlene: 8600

"Now, Frostsaurus will attack you!" Arlene revealed her face down.

"I activate Balance Reinforcements, which I can activate when you declare an attack. I special summon from my deck or graveyard a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name. Not only do I get to choose to add 3 Light or Dark Auras to the monster I just summoned, but also your monster has to attack the newly summoned monster. I'll bring out Balance Warrior Gyunn (1600/1400) to the field and add 3 Light Auras to him, bringing his attack up by 1200 (1600/1400 - 2800/1400)!" Frostsaurus clashed with the newly summoned monster resulting in the ice dinosaur being destroyed.

Ethan: 1200  
Arlene: 8600

"You've gotten better," Ethan noted. "I end my turn."

"Alright then, Gyunn attack him directly!" There was a flash of grey light as Gyunn slashed at Ethan.

Ethan: 0000  
Arlene: 8600

The Fate cards were placed face down in front of Ethan. Ethan gave no hesitations and picked the middle card which turned to reveal...

The Infection of Fate.

_A double dose of the Infection of Fate? What's going to happen?_ Arlene's thoughts were answered by Ethan's scream. Green light seemed to burst forth from his skin and snaked itself around Ethan. His screams grew louder causing the green light to be blinding. Arlene shielded her eyes until the light seemed to fade. Lowering her hand she looked at Ethan.

Ethan's mark on his forehead was gone. In its place his eyes were now a luminous green with the same effect as the mark on his forehead before. He seemed a lot more confident and he now had green marks scattered across his skin. Ethan took a few seconds to familiarise himself with his new body before staring straight at his sister.

"Why thank you, Arlene," Ethan told her, a dry sound in his voice. "I can see Fate itself. Snatches of the future, of the inevitable. We're going to meet again, but it wont be for a while..." Ethan gave a soft laugh. "You've only scratched the surface on the true nature of the Fate cards. Maybe Hamon can tell you more?" Green light burst from his skin, and Arlene collapsed to the floor.

* * *

Adela had been walking behind Bryon for a few minutes before he stopped dead.

"What is it?" Adela snapped. The throbbing pain in her arm had not subsided, leaving her very irritable.

"It's...Fay..." Bryon whispered.

"What?" Adela moved Bryon out of the way to see Fay staring straight back at them. She looked a lot thinner than before but otherwise was the same.

"Bryon..." Bryon rushed forward to hug her. Fay broke the hug after a few seconds to look at Bryon. "You set the Slifer Dorms on fire." Bryon's face grew serious and he looked down at the floor. Fay punched him in the stomach and ran in the opposite direction. Adela and Bryon were initially unsure of what to do, but after a few moments followed her.

* * *

_I'm back in Begia's headquarters! And Bryon's here! Why am I here? How did I get here?_ These questions raced through Fay's mind with no answers. Looking over her shoulder she saw Bryon and heard him calling out to her, but she ignored what he was saying. _He's just trying to trick me. I have to get out of here._ Fay turned a corner and went through a door, only to find it was a dead end. She was about to leave when she saw Arlene on the floor.

"Arlene!" Fay rushed up to her and started shaking her. "ARLENE! WE HAVE TO GO! BEGIA TOOK US AND..."

"Don't yell," Arlene muttered weakly, getting to her feet. "What happened?"

"I woke up here and-"

"Wait wait wait." Arlene interrupted. "How come you're alive?"

"What?"

"You lost in a duel to Erick Guerra and got the Death of Fate card. Why are you alive?" Fay looked stunned as she tried to think of an explanation. At that moment Adela and Bryon burst in. Fay screamed and tried to escape, but Bryon caught her.

"Fay, STOP! I'm not the bad guy here!" Bryon tried explaining. Fay continued struggling.

"FAY!" Arlene yelled. Fay stopped and looked at her. "A lot has happened, both while you were "dead" and here. So we need to fill in the blanks of what we know. We'll start with what happened after you lost."

* * *

The four teenagers sat down and talked for a few hours about all that had transpired after Fay had "died". Once Fay was up to speed, Adela and Bryon talked about what had happened while they were dueling the Computer, leaving out their mysterious cuts. Then Arlene told them about dueling with Hamon and then Ethan, but skipped over the revelations Hamon had told her about regarding her friends' pasts.

"So where does this leave us?" Fay asked after an uncomfortable silence. "Hamon's gone, so's Michael and we still have to deal with Duel Academy. Then there's the whole deal with the Fate cards and that woman researcher...so Ethan can tell the future?"

"I don't know," was Arlene's honest reply. "He was right about the duel ending in less than four turns, but that could have been a guess. He did say that we'd meet Ethan again but not in the near future. This is all so confusing..." Inside her head Arlene was struggling with another matter.

_I know I shouldn't believe what Hamon says, but..._

"Something wrong, ARLENE?" Bryon asked. Arlene nodded and faced Adela.

"Have you killed before?" Adela looked stunned by the question, but recovering from her shock gave a slow nod. "Why?"

"I'm not getting into that. That's private." Arlene didn't know what to say and looked down at the floor. Fay decided to break the silence.

"Look, we all want answers right? And the only place that'll give us any leads is Duel Academy. So let's go!" Bryon nodded and stood up, as did Fay, but Adela and Arlene stayed where they were.

"Come ON, you two! The quicker we go, the QUICKER we'll get out of here, the QUICKER..."

"Yeah, yeah I get it," Adela stood up and faced Arlene. "Coming?" Arlene nodded and followed Adela out of the room.

* * *

"I'm not going with you." Bryon, Fay and Arlene turned to face Adela. The four of them had returned to the helicopter that Bryon had used to get to and from Duel Academy. "I've had about as much as I can stand of this whole Fate thing. Maybe once all of this is over you can look me up, but until then, see you." Adela had run off before any of them could even mutter a goodbye.

"I guess it's just us again," Arlene noted. The three of them got in to the helicopter, ready to return to Duel Academy.

* * *

New Cards...

Healing Fission  
Continuous Magic  
Image: An Ameba splitting into two with a bright light emerging from where it split.  
Effect: When a monster you control is sent to the graveyard as a tribute, increase your life points by 1000.

Balance Reinforcements  
Counter Trap  
Image: A lone Balance Warrior Boru facing a Summoned Skull. Behind both of them various Balance Warriors are charging towards the two.  
Effect: You can only activate this card when your opponent declares an attack. Special summon from your deck or graveyard a monster with "Balance Warrior" in its name. If the monster is special summoned successfully, you may add either 3 Dark Auras or 3 Light Auras to the monster just summoned. Your opponent's can only attack the monster summoned by this card during this turn.


	28. Uncertainties

"Well this is great." The helicopter didn't have enough fuel to take Arlene, Bryon and Fay all the way to Duel Academy, so they landed on the very island that Bryon and Arlene had been stuck on.

"Don't be so negative, ARLENE!" Bryon replied cheerily. Currently, the three of them were making another means of transportation to Duel Academy. "It's just like old times!"

"Whatever you say. I'll get some food." Arlene wandered off, trying to sift through her thoughts in the hopes that it would make things clear.

_I can't even believe that Hamon made me confused about my friends. Saying Adela and Michael had...Michael..._ The three of them had searched the Begia base but found no signs of Michael. Their only leads were the bodies of two Begia guards, both of whom had been shot. _Did Michael kill them as well?_ Arlene quickly shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, but instead managed to bring up the past. _Bryon telling me I'm an amateur...Ethan getting infected...Fay losing and "dying"...snap out of it! I just don't know anymore!_ Arlene found that her feet had taken her so far away from the others she could no longer see the beach they were on. She sunk to her knees and buried her head.

* * *

Duel Academy Island had changed. There were no longer any students left to roam the island, replaced by Begia members. The main building of the island was being used to store the children needed for the Fate cards, as well as the students of the island whose Fates had been sealed. Hayden was quietly reflecting about his stay on Duel Academy.

_Why did Hamon change? When he came back from Egypt he was different. Suddenly obsessed with Duel Monsters. He taught us all how to duel and everything. Then he used children..._ Hayden gave an involuntary shudder and felt the top of his shoulder, as if checking to see whether or not something was there. _Then I just had to stay here. It was either that or remain in the giant test tube._ A strong blast of wind swept by him, momentarily bringing him away from his thoughts, but soon he had delved back into his mind. _Hamon asked me to check the island. Use that device. He wouldn't tell me what it was for, but it kept flashing everywhere I went. Same for Adela and Clayton..._ Hayden clenched his fists. _Caleb...why is he here?_ His thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing.

"Hello, Hayden speaking."

"Yeah, hi." Hayden recognised the voice almost immediately.

"Oh. Caleb."

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, I need you to do me a favour and let me borrow your Balance Warriors..."

"Fuck off."

"Hear me out, will you?"

"Just use your own deck to kick the ass of the five year old you're going to duel."

"Actually it's Arlene Ramirez." Hayden snorted.

"What, you only just found that out? You're a bit slow."

"Shut up! Are you going to lend me it or not?"

"No way in hell. Just duel her with your Union monsters." Hayden hung up.

_I can't believe three kids are going to try and shut down the Duel Academy Operation. Didn't they remember we have tracking devices on that Britt girl? I don't see why Hamon's making a big fuss of them. Fay's lost a good number of times, Bryon's deck doesn't even come close to being able to win, and Arlene..._ Hayden smirked as he remembered dueling her. _A nervous wreck at the sight of Dark Kirud? I doubt we'll have problems there._

_

* * *

_

"Arlene! You finally came back!" Neither Fay nor Bryon had noticed that Arlene was in a worse mood than before she'd left. "Sit down, sit down!" Arlene reluctantly did so. "So, what's for eating?"

"...What?" Arlene was vaguely aware that someone was talking to her.

"You FORGOT to get FOOD?" Bryon stared at her in disbelief. When Arlene said nothing, Bryon got up and left, presumably to look for food.

"Arlene? You okay?" Arlene burst into tears.

"I don't know what to do anymore! I think that something's right and that everything else is wrong, and then suddenly everything's turned on its head! I thought we were the good ones, I thought we'd never do anything THEY did!"

"Arlene, what are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Fay! Bryon set fire to the dorms twice, Adela's killed someone, so's Michael and..." Arlene stopped, not wanting to talk about what Hamon had said about Fay.

"And what?" Arlene shook her head, causing Fay to get angry. "AND WHAT?"

"...And all those dark emotions in you." Fay looked extremely angry.

"You're kidding. YOU'RE KIDDING! I have dark thoughts and that makes me EVIL? What the hell are you thinking? There's no-one on the planet that doesn't think dark thoughts at some point!"

"What about the Fate cards?" Arlene's voice was almost a whisper, choked with tears.

"When I told you about the Fate cards you were okay with it! You said so what!"

"I can't help it!" Arlene sobbed. "All of these thoughts have been in my head and I need to sort them out! People on our side have killed..."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing." Fay clenched her fists and after a few moments of thought punched the ground. "What brought all of this on?"

"Hamon and Ethan."

"You trust your brother when he's infected? You TRUST Hamon more than us? You take his word over ours? Look, you can't see the world in just two colours, because it isn't like that. We are not solely evil or solely good, and you have to learn to live with that." The silence was punctured much later by the sounds of Bryon coming back, though he also fell silent after hearing what Arlene had to say.

* * *

"The boat's ready." There was no celebrations from Bryon and no comments from Arlene. The three of them simply looked on at the pale moon and boarded the raft after getting it started, and made their way slowly back to Duel Academy.

* * *

The second arc is done! To commemorate the event, I've put together a little sequence to some music. If you're not really into that kind of thing, then just sit tight for the next part. If you're curious, read on! The music is "In the Light" by Full Blown Rose and can be found on the Elektra Soundtrack, or just type it in to youtube and listen to it.

_(Instrumental Opening)_

We see the dark blue ocean illuminated by the moon. We then focus on the raft, with Arlene staring out at the sea.

_Winter winds have gone and faded_

Arlene is staring up at the moon. We can only see the back of her.

_I told the skies of thoughts of grey_

A close up of the back of Arlene's face, with her hair being whipped to and fro by the wind.

_Tears upon my pillow laying, a child lost to pain_

We see flashes from Arlene's memory: Fay, Adela, Ethan, Michael. We still cannot see her face.

_I'll pray for better days_

We finally see a close up of Arlene's face as the final face flashes in Arlene's memory: Bryon, which cuts to...

_Lift me up, lead me from this place_

A flashback to the duel between Arlene and Bryon when the dorms were burning. We see Arlene collapsing to the ground.

_Let your love be mercy on my face_

Bryon standing by the cliff, then stepping off it. We then see a shadow of Ethan which leads to...

_Rising up, I changed before your eyes_

Flashback of Ethan being infected for the first time, and staring maliciously at Arlene.

_Out of darkness, standing in the light_

Flashback of Hamon talking to Arlene. We cut back to Arlene in the present. The camera goes up to the moon and...

_Heaven hoped you'd come and change me_

...comes back down on Michael and Erick walking along a dirt track.

_Out of that, just make me whole_

Close up of Michael's face, we see a mix of anger and sadness in his eyes.

_Lift me up, and recreate me and help me overcome_

Michael stops and punches the ground, then holds his fist in his other hand.

_Myself, lead me from hell_

A single tear falls from Michael's face as he stares at the ground, overcome.

_Lift me up, lead me from this place_

We see Michael staring at a green test tube with a small girl contained inside. He tentatively touches the glass.

_Let your love me mine, see on my face_

Michael hammers on the glass and is restrained by nearby security guards.

_Rising up, I change before your eyes_

A split screen of Michael and Arlene staring down at the ground.

_Out of darkness, standing in the light_

Continued split screen of Arlene and Michael. The two look up at the sky, the music fades and then fade to black.

Tada! Liked it? Didn't like it? PM me if you want to tell me your thoughts about it, otherwise see you next chapter.


	29. Fate Soul

Arlene stared out at the gentle waves as the pale moon shone above. They were close to Duel Academy: Arlene had made the trip enough times on a make shift raft to know that. Had she not been in such a contemplative mood she might have smiled, but there was no room in her thoughts for that.

_A lot has happened since I started looking for Ethan. A lot will still have to happen before all of this is over. I don't even know why he ran, and whenever I come close to this whole thing being over something else happens: I try to find him on Duel Academy Island and the place gets burned; I find Ethan but then he gets…infected…and now…_

Arlene brought herself out of those thoughts and looked around the small raft. Bryon and Fay were asleep, or at least looked as though they were. Arlene was supposed to be keeping watch and took advantage of this opportunity to try and clear her head. Unfortunately this was only making things worse.

_The most important things I'm trying to sort out are what I think about Bryon and Fay. I'm being ridiculous, I know…but I've been taught that good is good and bad is bad – having a mix seems alien to me. Bryon and Fay are saying that's not true, but they would say that because they're…well, they've done bad things._

Arlene was shocked at herself.

_What? I can't believe I just considered it like that! No, we've all done bad things, maybe like lying to someone, but when people do things like Bryon and Fay have done…what am I supposed to think? Am I supposed to wipe the slate clean? If I do that, what should I do about Hamon? Start again?_

Shaking her head to bring herself back to reality, Arlene continued her watch.

* * *

Adela was cornered. She stared impassively as a shadowy figure in front of her approached.

"Adela. You ran out on Begia's most important mission. You can no longer be considered a member of Begia and now you must let Fate decide what should be done with you." Adela attached her duel disk to her arm, aware of a strange feeling inside her, but unsure of what it was.

"Mind telling me your name?" Adela asked.

"My name is of no concern to you." Adela shrugged and drew her cards.

Adela: 4000  
?: 4000

"Alright then, I'll…" Adela began to make her move, but stopped. She was suddenly aware of a presence within her, giving her suggestions on what moves to make.

_What the hell?_ By strange coincidence, what the presence had outlined was what she was planning to do.

"I'll set one monster face down and place one card face down. Your turn." The man drew his card.

"I summon Axe Raider (1700/1150) to the field, and I'll get it to destroy your face down!"

_Or so you think._

"My face down card is Marshmallon (0300/0500)! Sorry to disappoint, but not only is this card unable to be destroyed through battle, but since you attacked it while it was face down, you lose 1000 life points!"

Adela: 4000  
?: 3000

"Fine. My turn's over," the man shrugged. Adela drew her card.

_Hmm…Mobius the Frost Monarch. I'll save that card for later. _At that moment, a green dome of energy suddenly shimmered around the two duelists, completely engulfing them.

"What the hell did you do?" Adela yelled at the man.

"I didn't do anything!" The man yelled back, looking confused.

_This reminds me of the Fate cards…but they haven't been activated in this duel…_ Adela glanced down at the card she had just drawn, and stopped dead.

The card had changed.

_I just drew Mobius the Frost Monarch! Why do I suddenly have Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch instead? _The voice Adela had heard before starting telling her to use the card. _What the hell's going on?_

_

* * *

_

Erick and Michael had been running for hours. They knew that the trail they were following was cold – they had seen the people they were chasing board a helicopter – but as long as the general direction was clear they would keep running.

"Why hello there." Erick and Michael jumped and turned around to see who had spoken to them.

"Who are you?" Michael asked. The person was no more than 20 years old, had strangely luminous green eyes as well as blotchy green skin. His eyes stared directly into Michael's.

"I would not advise you both to chase after the helicopter." Erick glanced at Michael, then back at the man.

"What are you talking about?" The man gave a small smirk.

"If you two continue to travel together, one of you will die. If you split up and both continue your search, one of you will die. In both cases, one of you will kill the other. If only one of you goes after the helicopter, one of the two people you are pursuing will die. And if neither of you continue your search, both yourselves and the people you are after will be safe. Knowing all this, do you still want to continue?" There was a stunned silence. Then:

"I don't believe you." It was Michael who spoke. "Anyone can spout some random crap about the future, and that doesn't mean it'll come true. Why should we listen to you?" The man shrugged.

"Just a warning." Green light burst from his skin. Erick and Michael shielded their eyes. When they opened them, the man was gone.

"Just who the hell was that?" Michael asked. Erick shrugged. "Come on. Let's keep going."

"I take it you don't believe what he said?" Michael shook his head. Erick gave a small nod and the two of them started running again.

_Was that Ethan?_ Erick thought to himself. _What happened to him?_

_

* * *

_

"Make your move." Adela looked at the man she was dueling.

"You really want to duel in this?" Adela gestured to the large green dome surrounding them.

"We've been here for an hour. This dome – whatever it is – isn't going to move anytime soon. Maybe it's just me, but I think our duel has something to do with this dome appearing, so maybe if it's over the dome vanishes?" Adela looked uncertain. "I know you won't believe me if I say this, but I won't play any Fate cards." Adela was silent for a long time.

_I have no idea what's going on, but this guy's right. I should end this as fast as I can._

"I sacrifice my Marshmallon for Thestalos the Firestorm Monarch (2400/1000)! When this monster is summoned 1 card is randomly discarded from your hand, and if it's a monster, you take damage equal to that monster's level multiplied by 100! So, let's see what you have." Adela pointed to the man's far-left card. The man revealed it to be Summoned Skull, a six star monster.

Adela: 4000  
?: 2400

"Next I'll play Smashing Ground, which lets me destroy your Axe Raider! And now, Thestalos! End this!" Adela and the man tensed, waiting to see what would happen when the duel ended.

Adela: 4000  
?: 0000

The dome shimmered, and then…a Fate card appeared.

"What?" The man screamed as he saw the card. Adela was shocked as well.

_No one played a fate card! What's going on? _Adela could only watch what happened. The Fate card showed a small boy dissolving into small green particles, and a second later the same thing was happening to the man. He screamed until he was completely gone and all that was left were floating particles…then the floating particles shot straight into Adela! Adela gasped as she felt new life flowing through her veins, and then it was over. The dome faded away and Adela sunk to the floor.

"What…was that?" She muttered.

_**That was the true power of Fate. **_Adela jumped as she heard a voice. She looked around but saw no one there. _**I am inside your mind, girl. You have been injected with the essence of a pure Fate Soul.**_

"Fate…Soul?"

**_You humans do not appear to have been using Fate cards properly. In order to make a Fate card, one must first have raw and unstable energy as well as a human sacrifice. Fate cards also require a special energy converter, which is why many of the Fate cards you have seen have been ineffective._**

"Hamon has been…killing people?" Adela could hardly believe her ears.

**_Yes. He has been experimenting with the Fate cards and discovered the need for human sacrifices, but has yet to discover the need for a special energy converter. However, recently he was given five small vials, each containing a Fate Soul. A Fate Soul is created when two proper Fate Cards are fused together. These can either manifest themselves in a body of the dead, or in this case can share a body with the living._**

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Adela screamed, clutching her head with both hands.

**_Now now. We Fate Souls do not simply take up space. We are able to activate proper Fate Duels, not like the pale imitations you have seen thus far. That last duel you had was a proper Fate Duel, and proper Fate Duels do not require a Fate Card to activate. They simply require a Fate Soul to want to change the regular duel into a Fate Duel. And while in this type of duel we receive…certain advantages. For example, we have a larger variety of Fate cards available to us, and as you have already seen we are able to change the odd card or two should it not suit our needs. All of this comes at a price though. We must constantly absorb the energy of our defeated foes, as you have just done._**

"I'm never dueling anyone again! You hear that you bastard! NEVER!"

**_We shall see._** Adela felt the presence in her mind fade away. She curled herself up into a ball, unsure of what to do.

* * *

New cards...

Fate Absorption  
Quickplay Magic  
Image: A small boy dissolving into small green particles.  
Effect: If this card is chosen by your opponent due to the effect of "Fate" your opponent is converted into Fate Energy and transfered to the victor's body.


	30. What you Know

"So...feeling a bit confused? It has been a while after all. Maybe I should refresh your memories a little, hmm?"

"Why don't we start off with the Fate Cards? These are the cards that you've seen Begia using - but more on Begia later. Fate cards are made using three different ingredients: raw and unstable energy; a human sacrifice; and a special energy converter. No-one that we've met so far knows just what exactly the special energy converter is, so the Fate cards that have been seen have not been fully functional ones. Once a Fate card is played, any duelist whose lifepoints hit zero has to choose a face down Fate card, which decides what happens to them. There are good and bad Fate cards, though we haven't seen any good ones so far, more things like ""The Death of Fate", which kills you. Euch. But as I've mentioned the Fate cards seen so far haven't been "proper" ones, which means if one of these "unfinished" Fate cards would cause you to die, your heart would stop, but there would still be a little bit of brain activity, enough to keep you going for a couple of days before you give out completely. "The Death of Fate" is one of the more simple Fate cards in that it does exactly what it says it will. Cards like "The infection of Fate" are a little bit more complicated, but let's try explaining it."

"We've seen this "infection" on a couple of characters, most notably Ethan. So what does it do? Well it taps into your deep dark side, the one that society tells you to keep hidden, and pulls it right out into the public eye! Fun, huh? Of course, if "real" Fate cards were used you'd turn into a Fate soul, but as it happens the "infected" characters still have a tiiiny bit of humanity in them, it's just not very clear. So what about when Ethan was hit with a double dose of infection? Did it just bring out his bad side twice? Hmmm, no. If you're given a second "Infection of Fate", that scrap of humanity you had pretty much goes bye bye, and you also get the little ability to see snatches of the future. That and your skin becomes a little bit green, and your eyes become...well, very green. This isn't really that well researched seeing as its only happened to one person so far.

"What about the origins of these cards? Well, not that much has been given away, but we do know that the leader of Begia - Hamon Ayver - discovered these cards while in Egypt. Which leads on to our next bit of catching up."

"Begia seems to have a couple of clear goals, the most important is to use these Fate cards and judge humanity, one soul at a time. Seems a little slow to me, but maybe they'll be more efficient in the future? They also want to get their Fate cards turned into real ones, and of course they've taken over the Duel Academy Island. I know, I know, why take over _that_ particular island? Put it this way - that island has something very important for the development of the Fate cards. Could it be the special energy converter? Even Hamon doesn't know what it is yet, and you didn't know this until just now either. Oops, maybe I gave a bit too much away? Ah well, too late now. Begia's currently using the emotions of children to create raw and unstable energy, and who knows who they're killing for the sacrifices? Probably just random civilians, I haven't really given it much thought. From what you've seen so far, Begia doesn't really seem like the strategy types, and you're right. I mean, their genius plan of blowing up the Duel Academy Island...twice? Yeah, they weren't really too bright on that one, you see the first set of explosions was so that they had a guise for bringing large numbers of the organisation onto the island, and they could just pass them off as people helping out for the tournament that was going to raise money for rennovations. So why didn't Kaiba just pay for it instead? Well, he was most likely being blackmailed at the time, but we'll ask him when we see him! So yeah, the plan was to capture a student called Fay Britt and then level the island so that they could start building things. So what did they want with Miss Britt? Well..."

"...Fay is one of the original children to be used to make the Fate cards, and they decided to do a little experiment on her - implant an emotion absorption device which would wirelessly allow Begia to draw upon her emotions so that they'd be more real than the kids in the test tubes. Of course, Hamon wanted more negative emotions than positive so wiped her memory before he released her and then always had a couple of people chasing her to make her feel distressed. The island blowing up twice can't have been good for her nerves. Speaking of Fay, she somehow magically came back from her almost-death, right? Well we can't say for sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say that it had something to do with her being the creator of a lot of these cards..."

"You're probably thinking, "Why are you summarizing this? Is Finding the Balance finished? If so, what a weak ending! So many loose ends etc.!" Relax, it's not the end. This summary was to give you the information you needed to know for the next parts of the action."

"This isn't the author speaking, by the way, though I'm sure most of you knew that already. Ethan, at your service, and I look forward to seeing you in the future."

So, is there anything that still confuses you? If so be sure to ask, and if it's not something that will be revealed I'm sure Ethan can fill you in...


	31. Warriors of the Dark Aura Part 1

"We're here." Arlene looked up at the towering cliffs, and couldn't help but wish that there was an easier way of landing on the island without detection - not only would there be a long trek to get to the top of the island, there was also the heavy rain to consider. The weather hadn't been so bad until half an hour before the trio landed, and it was a good thing that it happened so close to the island, as the raft didn't seem as though it would last much longer.

"Arlene! What are you doing?" Arlene looked to see Bryon and Fay huddled in a small cave nearby, and raced towards them.

* * *

Adela looked up at the stormy weather, still not entirely sure what she should do. Just a few moments ago, she had been involved in a duel using Fate cards. Except...they **hadn't** been used. To make matters even stranger, immediately after the duel she had heard a voice in her head claiming to be a "Fate Soul" which had apparently initiated the Fate duel. It had told her a lot of information concerning the Fate cards, some of which she understood, some of which she was not so sure about, especially the part about the Fate cards used so far not being at their full strength.

_I didn't think these cards could get much worse. But then I find out that the ones we've seen so far aren't even proper ones? It's bad enough these "fake" ones were made by killing people and putting kids in test tubes, how much worse can it get?_ At that moment the rain above started to intensify. Picking herself up off of the ground, Adela took a look at the spot where a few minutes ago a man had been before turning into green particles. Her eyes lingered on the spot before the rain intensified again and she forced her legs to move away from the area.

* * *

Erick and Michael were frantically looking for some form of shelter against the lashing rain. Both of them were cold, hungry and frustrated at the fact that they both no longer had any idea as to which direction they were to go. The helicopter they had been attempting to follow had been lost from sight almost as soon as they had begun the chase, and while they had been running on optimism before, that had long since worn out. As they ran, Michael stumbled and fell.

"Come the fuck on, Michael!" Erick snarled. "We need to get out of this rain!"

"Don't you snap at me!" Michael growled back, standing up. "We're both pissed off so let's not take it out on each other, okay?" Erick glared at Michael for a few more seconds before becoming aware of the weather. He shook his head and started to run, with Michael lagging behind him.

* * *

"Sir! We've apprehended Miss Britt and the others! They're being held in the cells." Hayden picked up his transceiver.

"Good work! Keep an eye on them." Hayden picked up his phone and called Hamon. "Sir? It's Hayden."

"Ah, hello, Hayden! Sorry about the background noise, I'm in a helicopter just now, I should be down on the island in under an hour! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Sir, we've apprehended Miss Britt and the others, they're in our cells at the moment."

"Excellent! Here's what I want you to do. Prepare a dueling area, and when I arrive I want you to bring out our prisoners. Gather all Begia members on the island to the area as well. We're going to have a little bit of fun!" Hamon gave a booming laugh before hanging up. Hayden looked uncertain for a moment before picking up his transceiver and issuing orders.

* * *

"So is this a new record?" Fay and Arlene stared at Bryon. "What?" Arlene sighed and gave the smallest of nods. Even she couldn't believe how fast they had been captured. Only five or so minutes after they had landed their cave was surrounded by members of Begia, and unlike the ones they had previously encountered, these ones were armed. Arlene sat down on the cold metallic floor and looked around at their small cell. From the looks of things it had been built recently as there was very little signs of decay and the paint on the walls looked fairly new.

"It hasn't been that long since we were gone, has it?" Fay asked the room in general. "For them to build all of this? They must have more people here than we thought."

"If by all of this, you mean this building." Arlene noted. "This is the only new building here, and it's not properly finished yet! I guess they wanted to make somewhere for prisoners as soon as they could." There was silence in the cell for a long time afterwards, before the trio heard footsteps gradually approaching. A minute or so later several guards appeared in front of the cell.

"Alright then you three! The boss has arrived and he wants to see you, so let's get moving!" The guard that had spoken unlocked the door and gave a gesture for them to move. The group moved in single file with guards separating each prisoner.

_So Hamon wants to see us. What does he want with us now that he couldn't have done back at the Begia base?_ Arlene was brought sharply back to reality by lashing rain, and realised that the group was outside. Arlene could hear the guards grumbling but their was no change in their pace. Looking round to see where they were headed she noticed a large tent that had been used in the tournament on the island.

_Something's wrong here. Does Hamon want us to duel? Maybe he's going to make us use Fate cards on each other..._ Arlene shuddered at the thought and kept her focus on the tent as they drew ever closer.

* * *

Inside the tent Arlene, Bryon and Fay had immediately been given their duel disks and been told to wait. The group had been inside the tent for half an hour before Hamon entered, giving a big smile and a wave to Arlene, Fay and Bryon and strolling right up to them.

"Hello there, we meet again! I have to say, I'm slightly shocked that you decided to come all the way to this island! Especially since we would know you were coming, isn't that right, Fay? Not forgetting the little tracking device we placed on you?" Fay hung her head. "Ah well! Let's get to the meat of the matter, shall we? Where's Hayden?" Hamon looked around until he spotted Hayden and signalled him over. Once Hayden was next to him, Hamon motioned the remaining guards and Begia members in the tent to gather round. "Welcome everyone! Today we're all going to witness what I hope will be something special. In order to show you, we're going to have a little duel between Hayden and one of our captives...hmmm...Bryon!" There were murmurs among the crowd.

_No! Is he going to be in a Fate duel?_ Arlene looked at Bryon and Fay, who shared her looks of worry.

"Let me duel instead!" Arlene blurted out. Hamon gave a booming laugh and shook his head.

"Sorry, Arlene, my mind's made up! Bryon, Hayden, let's go to the middle of the tent please! Oh wait! Hayden, take out your Fate cards, I don't want you using them in this duel!" The mutterings in the crowd intensified at this statement, but Hamon quickly interjected. "Hush hush! It's all part of the surprise, you'll see! Now, Hayden, Bryon if you would? Oh Bryon, we held on to your deck, here you go! And here's a duel disk! Now, go! Go!" The two stepped into the middle of the tent and faced each other. "Without further ado, let the duel begin!"

_What's the surprise Hamon's all excited about?_ Bryon thought to himself. _Only one way to find out..._

Hayden: 4000  
Bryon: 4000

"Guess I'll go first then," Hayden noted drawing his card. "I'll set a card face down and end my turn." Bryon picked up his card.

"I summon UFO Turtle (1400/1200) to the field! And I'm going to get my monster to attack you directly!" Bryon's monster charged towards Hayden.

"Alright then, reveal face down, Balance Reinforcements. Because you declared an attack, I can now special summon my Balance Warrior Hyan (1800/1200) to the field. As well as this I can give him three Dark Auras." Hyan emerged out of Hayden's trap card and started glowing as three Dark Auras circled him. "Do you still want to attack?" Bryon looked thoughtful for a moment.

"UFO Turtle, attack his Balance Warrior!"

_Bryon, what are you doing?_ Fay watched as Bryon's UFO Turtle shattered into pixels.

Hayden: 4000  
Bryon: 3600

"And now my monster's effect activates! Because UFO Turtle was sent to the graveyard from battle, I can special summon a Fire attribute monster from my deck to the field, as long as it has 1500 attack points or less, so I choose my Raging Flame Sprite (0100/0200)!" Bryon paused for a moment while his monster emerged onto the field. "My monster has an effect that allows him to bypass your monsters and attack you directly, and each time he does so he gains 1000 attack points!" Fay breathed a sigh of relief in the crowd, but Arlene looked worried.

_Doesn't Bryon know the other effect of Balance Reinforcements? What's he doing?_

"Raging Flame Sprite, attack Hayden directly!"

"That was a poor move, Bryon," Hayden stated as Raging Flame Sprite dashed towards him. Bryon's monster was about to attack when Hyan appeared in front of Hayden, causing Raging Flame Sprite to be destroyed.

"W...what happened?" Bryon looked dumbfounded at the rapid turn of events.

"There's another effect of Balance Reinforcements that I didn't mention before. During the turn that Balance Reinforcements activated, you can only attack the monster that was summoned through the card's effect. So instead of attacking me directly, you attacked my monster and lost 1700 life points."

Hayden: 4000  
Bryon: 1900

"In that case I play the magic card Level Limit - Area B! This card forces all monsters who are 4 stars or higher into defence mode and they'll stay like that until the card is off the field!" Hyan looked as though it was in pain as it was forced into defense mode. "That's my turn."

_What am I doing?_ Bryon thought to himself. _One turn and I've already lost half of my life points! I've got to be more careful..._

"I'll start my turn by activating Disrupting the Balance, a magic card that allows me to sacrifice my Balance Warrior Hyan with its three Dark Auras, in order to summon Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan (2800/1200)." Hyan's features distorted as the Dark Auras enveloped him, creating a dark mist. When the mist cleared in place of Hyan was a monster dressed in black armour with a blood drenched sword. "Then I'll activate the magic card Darkness Rising. While this card is on the field, any magic cards that I play release Dark Auras, including this one." A Dark Aura emerged from Hayden's card and began circling Hyan. Hyan looked at the Aura and slashed at it, spliting it into two. "I should start explaining some of Hyan's new abilities, the first being that Hyan gains two Dark Auras whenever he would normally gain one. In addition to this, for every Dark Aura my monster has, he gains 500 attack points (2800/1200 - 3800/1200). My monster can also remove a Dark Aura to destroy a magic or trap card on the field, and I think I'll get rid of your Level Limit." Hyan grabbed one of the Dark Auras circling him and threw it at Bryon's magic card, causing it to explode. "Sadly your card placed my monster in defense mode this turn so I can't attack you, so I'll finish by setting two cards face down. Your move." Bryon hesitantly drew his card.

Hamon looked thoughtful at the duel's progress.

_When is this duel really going to begin? I'd expected better from Bryon. Maybe I should have chosen someone else...but then again I did have to have some guinea pigs, just to make sure I didn't needlessly kill my best men!_ Hayden smirked. _Soon everyone here is going to see the real power of Fate Duels! I wish I didn't have to use Hayden as his opponent, but none of my other men can really duel as well as him, and I needed the best._ Hayden's eyes darkened as Bryon drew his card. _Come on Bryon, unleash your Fate Soul and end this!_

_

* * *

_

New cards...

Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan  
ATK: 2800 DEF: 1200  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 8  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A twisted version of Balance Warrior Hyan. His body is coated in black armour and his sword is blood red.  
Effect: This card cannot be fusion summoned except by the effect of "Disrupting the Balance". This card cannot accumulate Light Auras. Whenever this card would gain a Dark Aura, it gains double the amount of Dark Auras. Once per turn you may remove one Dark Aura from this card to destroy one magic or trap card on the field. This card gains 500 attack for each Dark Aura it has.


	32. Warriors of the Dark Aura Part 2

"I thought you said you knew how to make a fire!" Erick glowered at Michael.

"You try it when the twigs are completely soaked!" Michael stormed over and snatched the flint and tinder from Erick's hands.

"I am not going to freeze my ass off just because you can't do a simple task!"

"Michael, will you relax? You're acting like a child!"

"Just do not say anything." Erick gave up and wandered to the opposite side of the small cave the pair were in. The rain from earlier had increased in intensity, forcing the two to find some form of shelter. Once inside they had started arguing and seemed unable to stop, though Erick noticed that the arguments were getting more intense.

"What the hell are you doing over there?" Michael snapped.

"I'm thinking." Erick replied. "Why?"

"Fire's ready." Erick sat down next to Michael in silence as they looked on at the rain outside.

"Who was the man from before?" Erick looked over at Michael.

"Man?"

"You know damn well who I mean. The guy with the green eyes, who was he?"

"I have no idea."

"I don't think that's true." Erick looked incredulous.

"You think I'm lying?"

"I think you're hiding something, probably another darker part of Begia that you were involved in."

"You don't trust me."

"Of course not! You're working with the enemy!"

"USED TO!" Erick snapped. "I USED TO WORK WITH THEM!" There was an uncomfortable pause.

"Well wasn't that a lovely conversation." Erick and Michael jumped to their feet and looked outside where the voice had come from. "Now now, you'll have to come out of your cave if you want to say hello." Michael started walking to the cave entrance without hesitation.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Erick warned.

"Why? Because it's the guy from before?" Erick said nothing. "I knew you were lying." Michael walked calmly out of the cave.

"Michael!" Erick called after him. When there was no response Erick growled and ran after him.

* * *

"Alright then, it's my move!" Bryon drew his card and surveyed the field. On his side he had nothing on the field, and five cards in his hand. Hayden's side meanwhile had Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan with one dark aura on it (2800/1200 - 3300/1200), the magic card Darkness Rising and two set cards as well as two cards in his hand.

Hayden: 4000  
Bryon: 1900

"I'll play the magic card Smashing Ground! This card allows me to destroy the monster on your side of the field with the highest defense points, and seeing as you only have one..." Bryon gave a big grin as a giant fist raced towards Hayden's monster. Without blinking Hayden activated one of his face down cards.

"I reveal my face down card, Defend the Darkness. Now by discarding a card from my hand I can stop Smashing Ground's from destroying Hyan." A giant wall of darkness appeared in front of Hyan, blocking the fist and causing it to disintegrate. "Just so you don't waste your cards like you did with your Raging Flame Sprite I can keep using this effect until the end of this turn as long as I'm willing to discard more cards from my hand. Care to try again?" Bryon growled and looked through his hand.

_No point using it this turn..._

"I'll set a monster face down and end my turn." Hayden picked up his card.

"Hyan, destroy his face down monster." Hyan sliced at Bryon's monster, revealing it to be Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) which was promptly destroyed. "I end my turn."

"I'll activate Soul Taker!" Bryon declared. "This lets me destroy one of your face up monsters in exchange for you gaining 1000 life points! Say bye bye to Hyan!"

"Sorry, Bryon. I reveal my other set card which happens to be another Defend the Darkness." Hayden discarded another card from his hand which caused the wall of darkness to once again protect Hyan. "Do you have another card you'd like to use?" Bryon set a monster as well as a face down card and ended his turn, looking worried as he tried to think of another way to get rid of Hyan.

* * *

"What the hell do you want?" The rain was coming ferociously but Erick wasn't even aware of it as he stared at the face that he knew all too well.

"I see you ignored my last warning," Ethan responded to Erick's glare. "I'm just trying to look out for your interests. Mind telling me why you two are so eager to die?" Michael stepped forward at this point.

"Alright, just who the hell are you?" Ethan gave a malevolent grin.

"Oh my, did Erick not tell you about me? My name's Ethan, but today you can just call me your guardian angel. Now, about my former warning?" Erick gave a smirk.

"You don't seem to be much of a guardian angel, making threats like that." Ethan glowered and his eyes flashed green.

"You have no idea what you're doing," Ethan's voice sounded much darker. "I am unfortunate enough to be able to see flashes of the future, and if you do not heed my earlier warnings then I am going to have to take matters into my own hands! Now are you or are you not going to turn back?" Erick was about to say something when Michael stepped in.

"They have my sister. There is absolutely no way that I'm turning back." Ethan gave a sigh.

"You see, I knew that you'd say that, but I thought I'd ask anyway." There was a burst of green light that temporarily blinded Erick and Michael. When their eyes refocused Ethan was wearing a duel disk. "Two versus one, but I know who wins, so I'd say that makes us about even." Michael smirked.

"I don't have to duel you." Michael attempted to walk past Ethan but found himself stopped by an invisible barrier.

"Sorry Michael, but this is a duel that Fate wants you to play." Michael looked at Erick, who simply shrugged.

"There's not much we can do about this, Michael." He scowled, but reluctantly prepared his duel disk.

* * *

"Are you even trying?" Hayden asked calmly as he drew his card. I'll summon Balance Warrior - Emri (1400/1600) and attack your face down monster." Emri slashed at Bryon's monster which revealed itself to be another UFO Turtle (1400/1200).

"I'll summon my final UFO Turtle from my deck with its effect!" Bryon looked through his deck before summoning the monster. Hayden shook his head.

"I'm afraid that this is over, Bryon. The effect of UFO Turtle means that any monster summoned with its effect MUST be in attack mode. And Hyan has more than enough attack points to end this. Destroy his UFO Turtle!" Hyan raised his blood stained sword and charged towards Bryon's field. Bryon gave a big grin as Hyan came closer.

"I activate my trap card Magic Cylinder! This card negates your attack, and then inflicts damage to your life points equal to the attack of your monster!" Hayden winced as his life points were drastically reduced.

Hayden: 0700  
Bryon: 1900

"In that case, I'll set one card face down and end my turn." Bryon picked up his card, looking very excited as he did so.

"You thought it was over last turn, but it is now! I use the magic card Misfortune! This allows me to choose one monster on your side of the field, and inflicts damage to your life points equal to half of that monster's original attack, so I choose Hyan! It's over!"

"I'm afraid not, Byron, I have a card of my own to activate, and it's called Blood Training! In order to activate this card I must have a Warrior of the Dark Aura monster as well as a Balance Warrior. First I sacrifice my Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan." Hyan vanished from the field, causing Emri to become enveloped in a cloud of darkness. "This allows me to sacrifice my Balance Warrior - Emri, and transform it into Warrior of the Dark Aura - Emri (2400/1600)!" Emri's body became encased in dark armour. Bryon cursed under his breath.

_Dammit! Everytime I think I might be winning he just throws it back in my face!_

"I'll set a monster face down and end my turn."

"Alright then, I activate Shield Crush, which lets me destroy your face down defense position monster." Bryon shielded his eyes as his monster was disintegrated. "And now thanks to Darkness Rising, Shield Crush releases a Dark Aura. Better still, Emri gains two auras instead of one, which increases his attack by 1000 (2400/1600 - 3400/1600). Now by removing both dark auras I can remove from play all face up monsters on your field, although Emri cannot attack if he does so." A dark portal appeared under UFO Turtle, causing it to vanish. "My turn's over." Bryon picked up his card slowly, before hanging his head.

"I end my turn." Hayden nodded and gestured for Emri to attack Bryon directly. Emri nodded and slashed at Bryon, knocking him backwards.

Hayden: 0700  
Bryon: 0000

* * *

There was a long silence after the duel, eventually broken by Hamon.

"What...was **_THAT_** supposed to be, Bryon?" Bryon got to his feet and looked at Hamon, who was glaring at him with the utmost contempt. "You were supposed to activate your Fate Soul! You were supposed to show us a REAL duel! Not that FARCE!" Hamon took a deep breath, then gave a malicious smile. "I suppose it was my fault for expecting too much from you. After all, you haven't done a very good job of trying to stop Begia so far, have you? So! Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to show you the true power of Fate!" Hamon walked quickly to Bryon and jabbed him with the same stunner that he had used on Bryon and Adela before. Bryon yelled in pain, but this clearly wasn't the reaction Hamon was hoping for, and he tried again. "Come on, Bryon!" Hamon yelled. "Show us! Show us the Fate Soul!"

"STOP IT YOU MONSTER!" Arlene screamed, attempting to pull Hamon away. Hamon struggled while attacking Bryon with the stunner. The struggle continued for several seconds before Hamon and Arlene were pushed back by an invisible force out of the tent. Bryon remained motionless for a few moments, before showering the tent with intense green light.

"_**HAMON AYVER**_!" A voice rang out. "_**HOW DARE YOU ATTEMPT TO MANIPULATE FATE! FOR THIS CRIME, YOUR PRECIOUS ISLAND WILL BE DESTROYED!**_" The ground started to tear, and those still inside the tent, including Fay, attempted to run, only to find that they were unable to leave. "**_ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE FOLLOWED YOUR MISGUIDED DREAM SHALL BE KILLED TO FUEL THE TRUE POWER OF FATE!_**" Arlene could only look on in horror outside of the tent as the people inside started to disintegrate, screaming while they did so. She tried running back to the tent, only to be flung back by the barrier.

"FAY! BRYON!" Arlene screamed but there was no response. She tried entering the tent again but was thrown back again. A dark green substance emerged from the ground and coated itself over the tent, silencing the screams. Arlene stared at the tent, completely lost in sadness, before she was brought back to reality by the sound of running footsteps. Turning round, she saw Hamon racing in the opposite direction.

"Hamon...you're not getting away with this..." Arlene sprinted after Hamon, determined to get revenge.

* * *

Inside the tent, Fay had been desperately struggling to escape with everyone else, trying desperately to break whatever it was that was keeping them from escaping. She looked around at people becoming particles in horror and looked at herself only to find that she was not.

"_**Fay Britt.**_" Fay turned round to see Bryon facing her. "**_You are responsible for the pale imitations of fate. As a result, you shall submit to a Fate Duel to atone for your crimes._**"

"Bryon! What are you talking about?" Bryon's face darkened.

"**_The one you call Bryon is no more than a vessel for this Fate Soul. Now activate your duel disk or your life shall be forfeit._**" Fay nervously activated her duel disk and looked on at the souless body that had once belonged to her friend.

* * *

New cards...

Defend the Darkness  
Normal Trap  
Image: Warrior of the Dark Aura - Hyan standing in front of an orb of darkness.  
Effect: Until the end phase of this turn, whenever a "Warrior of the Dark Aura" monster on your side of the field would be destroyed by a card effect, by discarding one card from your hand it is not destroyed.

Blood Training  
Normal Trap  
Image: Warrior of the Dark Aura - Kirud being stabbed in the back by Balance Warrior - Gyunn while blood swirls around them.  
Effect: You can only activate this card by selecting one "Warrior of the Dark Aura" monster and one "Balance Warrior" monster on your side of the field. Send both cards to the graveyard, and then special summon from your extra deck a monster with the destroyed "Balance Warrior" monster's name in the card text, ignoring the summoning conditions of the monster.

Warrior of the Dark Aura - Emri  
ATK: 2400 DEF: 1600  
Attribute: Dark  
Level: 6  
Type: Warrior  
Image: A twisted version of Balance Warrior Emri. His body is encased in black armour.  
Effect: This card cannot be summoned from the fusion deck except by sending one face up "Balance Warrior Emri" with 3 dark auras to the graveyard with "Disrupting the Balance". This card cannot accumulate Light Auras. Whenever this card would gain a Dark Aura, it gains double the amount of Dark Auras. You may remove 2 Dark Auras from this card to remove from play all face up monsters on your opponent's side of the field. This card cannot attack the turn you use this effect. This card gains 500 attack for each Dark Aura it has.


	33. The Endgames Begin

"You're not getting away from me, Hamon!" Arlene yelled at the man in the distance, who paid no attention to her. Drawing upon reserves of energy she didn't even know she had, Arlene was slowly getting closer to Hamon. A tremor shook the earth beneath the pair, causing both to stumble slightly. Arlene was able to recover slightly quicker and drastically closed the gap between herself and Hamon, who glanced over his shoulder with an emotionless expression. The ground shook once again, causing him to fall over a second time. Arlene lunged at him, grabbing his legs and halting his progress. Hamon snarled and kicked her off, though he now made no attempts to run, instead turning to face her.

"I've had just about enough of you!" He snapped, readying his duel disk. Arlene did the same. "This is going to end now!"

Hamon: 4000  
Arlene: 4000

"I'll activate the field magic card, Elemental Plains!" The area around the pair shook, as a result of both the island and the new card being played. The field was transformed into grassy plains that were constantly changing textures, from oceans of fire to fields with intense winds running through them. "While this card is on the field, we can only summon to the field monsters of a fire, water, wind or earth attribute, and we may only have one monster of each attribute on our fields at any time! Now I'll summon to the field my Wind Statue (0000/0000)!" A green statue appeared on Hamon's field. "To finish, I'll set two cards face down." Arlene picked up a card.

"I'll summon my Balance Savior (1500/1000) to the field!" She paused after summoning her monster to look at Hamon's. "Now I'll get it to attack your Wind Statue!" Her monster charged at the statue.

"Do you happen to remember the effects of my statues?" Hamon asked with a smirk. "If a monster with the same attribute as one of my statues attacks it, both monsters are destroyed, I gain life points equal to the attacking monster's attack points, and I can then summon another "Statue" monster of the same name from my deck or hand!"

"So? Your monster is wind attribute and my monster's earth." Hamon's smirk widened as he revealed his two face down cards.

"My two face down cards will change that! The first one that will be activating is a card called Opposing Elements! This can be activated when I have a "Statue" monster on the field, and lets me special summon from my deck a monster with a conflicting element to the one on my field. The opposing element to wind is earth, so I'll summon my Earth Statue (0000/0000)!" A clay statue of a human face appeared next to Hamon's other monster.

"That still doesn't change anything!" Hamon held up a hand.

"Now, now! I'm not finished yet! My second face down card is a continuous trap card known as Elemental Instability!" Beams of energy shot out of both statues and into Arlene's monster, who began to glow green. Balance Saviour fired a spell at Wind Statue, causing both monsters to explode and a second Wind Statue to appear.

Hamon: 5500  
Arlene: 4000

"Elemental Instability can be activated when I have two or more "Statue" monsters on my field. Whenever one of your monsters attacks, I can change the attribute of the monster to one that matches one of my "Statue" monsters, so I choose wind! And because your monster was the same attribute as mine, both monsters are destroyed, I gain some life points and get to summon another Wind Statue!" Arlene looked nonplussed.

"Well my monster has an effect as well! Whenever Balance Saviour is removed from the field, I can special summon a "Balance Warrior" from my deck, as well as giving it a Light or Dark Aura, so I choose my Balance Warrior Vimetu (0900/2100) in defense mode, and I'll give it a Dark Aura!" Arlene's monster appeared behind a large shield, with a small orb of darkness circling it. "I'll finish by setting a card face down."

"I'll summon my Fire Statue (0000/0000) to the field and end my turn." A charred statue appeared next to Hamon's other two statues, causing all of them to glow slightly. Arlene picked up her card, which caused Vimetu's Dark Aura to disappear.

_During my standby phases Vimetu gets a Light Aura if there's an even number of monsters on the field, or a Dark Aura if there's an odd number of monsters, but if it has an opposing Aura on it then it vanishes...why does Vimeut have to be so tricky?_ Arlene gazed at Vimetu for a few more seconds before setting a card and finishing her turn. Hamon looked at the card that he had just drawn and gave a booming laugh.

"Laugh all you want, Hamon. I'm going to beat you, and then your precious Fate is going to give you the punishment you deserve!" Hamon shook his head, still laughing.

"Patience, Arlene! I haven't even played those cards yet! I might be tempted to by the end of this turn though! I summon my Water Statue (0000/0000), finishing my set!" A see through statue filled with swirling water appeared, causing the field to start changing its appearences far more rapidly. "These statues have a connection with my field magic card, and by removing all my monsters as well as Elemental Plains you'll see something special!" Beams of light burst from the four statues and the field to merge in the sky. This resulted in a massive pulse of energy and the creation of a monster that looked humanoid in shape, but shared the properties of Elemental Plains in that one minute it was coated in a rocky material, the next it was made of water. "Arlene, say hello to my Guardian of the Elemental Plains (0000/0000)! This card has a few effects, the first of which being that for every fire, water, wind and earth monster in both of our graveyards, my monster gains 300 attack and defense points, and I count six (0000/0000 - 1800/1800)! Its second effect allows it to take no battle damage from fighting monsters of fire, water, wind or earth attributes, and also destroys them at the end of the battle! So my Guardian, destroy that Balance Warrior!" Hamon's monster charged up a sphere of fire and fired it in the direction of Arlene's monster.

"Not so fast! I activate Artificial Aura! This allows me to add one Light or Dark Aura to a monster for every 1000 life points I pay, so I'll give up 3000 life points to give Vimetu three Dark Auras!" Three orbs of darkness began circling Vimetu as Arlene's life points went down.

Hamon: 5500  
Arlene: 1000

The orb of fire smashed into Vimetu, evaporating as soon as it made contact. Hamon waited for a few seconds, waiting for Vimetu to be destroyed by his monster's effect, however nothing happened.

"When Vimetu has three Dark Auras, he can only be destroyed as a result of battle," Arlene explained. Hamon remained motionless for a few seconds before laughing.

"Hah! Oh well, now that you've reduced your life points so much, my monster's final effect is going to be quite fatal! You see, once per turn, I can send a monster to my graveyard from my deck - as long as it's not a monster of the light or dark variety - and inflict 500 points of damage to you! So I'll send my Water Statue to the graveyard with this effect!" Guardian of the Elemental Plains launched an orb of water at Arlene.

Hamon: 5500  
Arlene: 0500

"And also, in case you'd forgotten, my monster gains another 300 attack and defense thanks to it's effect (1800/1800 - 2100/2100)! And to finish my turn, I'll activate Fate's Dice! This causes a six sided die, and depending on the result I can remove from play a varying degree of Fate cards!" A holographic die was rolled in the middle of the field, landing on a six. "Well, well! Look at that, a six! That means that I can remove from play ALL of my Fate cards!" As Hamon did so, the same dark green substance that had covered the duel tent minutes earlier surrounded the two duelists.

"What the...what's going on?" Arlene looked around, confused at her new surroundings. Even Hamon seemed a little bit surprised, though he quickly recovered.

"If I'm not mistaken, it looks as though Bryon's Fate Soul has unlocked the power of my Fate cards! Do you know what this means, Arlene? No more coming back from the dead! Any Fate chosen in this match will be absolute!"

* * *

"Hmm, two against one?" Ethan pondered as he looked at Erick and Michael. "I think it's only fair that you two share your field and that we all get some more life points. You can use each other's monsters and face down cards as you see fit, just be sure to play nice!"

Erick & Michael: 8000  
Ethan: 8000

_No other way around this,_ Michael thought to himself, glancing at Erick. _I'll have to work with Erick. I'll have to put my reservations about him aside...like the fact that he didn't tell me that he knows this psychopath..._

"I'll go first," Erick announced. "I'll set one monster in face down defense position and end my turn." Ethan picked up a card.

"I'll summon my Insect Knight (1900/1500) to the field to attack your face down card!" Ethan's sword wielding insect swung at Erick's face down card only to be thrown back.

Erick & Michael: 8000  
Ethan: 7900

"You attacked my Gravekeeper's Spy (1200/2000) who lets me summon another Gravekeeper monster from my deck with an attack of 1500 or less when it's flipped face up, so I'll bring out another spy!" Ethan shrugged.

"I'll set one card face down and end my turn."

"Which makes it my turn," Michael muttered to himself as he drew. "I'll summon Emissary of Rituals (1900/1000) to the field!" A hooded figure holding a stone tablet materialised on the field. "And now my monster will attack your Insect Knight!" Erick looked over at Michael, clearly shocked.

"What are you doing?" Erick snapped. Michael ignored him.

_I know what I'm doing. When Emissary of Rituals is destroyed by battle I can half the requirements of my next ritual summon, so I'll be able to bring out something special next turn!_

_This is ridiculous!_ Erick thought to himself. _Sure, his monster's effect requires it to be destroyed by battle, but that's assuming Ethan lets him!_ Sure enough, Ethan activated his face down card as Michael declared his attack.

"Sorry, Michael, but I activate my face down card Unlocked Powers! To activate this card I can pay between 1000 and 3000 life points to have a normal monster on my field gain some effects while it remains in play, and I choose to pay 3000!"

Erick & Michael: 8000  
Ethan: 4900

"The first effect it gains is the ability to cancel an attack once per turn, so I'll stop your Emissary of Rituals from attacking." Michael's monster stopped inches from Insect Knight. "The second effect allows me to destroy the monster whose attack was negated." Emissary of Rituals shattered into thousands of pieces. "Finally I can either summon a normal monster to my field from my hand with an attack lower than the monster I destroyed, or inflict damage to your life points equal to said monster's original attack." Ethan thought for a moment. "I'll choose the latter effect!" Michael and Erick winced as their life points were reduced.

Erick & Michael: 6100  
Ethan: 4900

Michael scowled before setting two cards face down and ending his turn.

"Not being much of a team player are you, Michael?" Ethan noted, his green eyes glowing more intensely as he spoke. "Charging recklessly at the enemy is almost guaranteed to get you killed."

"I know what I'm doing!" Michael snapped. Ethan smirked.

"Well that's just the problem, isn't it?" Ethan tapped his head as he spoke. "I know what you're doing too."

"Don't listen to him, Michael! He's just trying to mess with your head!" Michael said nothing, simply staring ahead of him.

_How do I know you're not messing with me, Erick? I think it'll be safer not trusting either of you._

"Well, it's something to think about while I make my next turn." Ethan picked up his card, his smile widening as he did so. "Something interesting happened not too long ago on Duel Academy Island. You two remember Bryon, don't you?" Michael and Erick looked uneasy as Ethan's facial expression became more twisted. "He was given a Fate Soul, and not just any Fate Soul." He paused as he considered something. "Rather than talk about it, maybe I should show you. I activate Preparations for the End, which allows me to remove from play all "Fate" cards from my hand, deck or graveyard at the cost of half of my life points."

Erick & Michael: 6100  
Ethan: 2450

A dark green substance started to emerge from the ground and completely covered the area where the duel was taking place. Michael and Erick recoiled as Ethan's skin began to glow more intensely.

"As you can see, activating Fate cards has a slightly more significant effect now that there's a Fate Soul running around. All I can say is, look forward to the coming turns."

* * *

New cards...

Elemental Plains  
Field Magic  
Image: A field covered with a combination of lava, strong winds, cracks in the earth and lashing rain.  
Effect: While this card is face up on the field, only monsters of FIRE, WATER, WIND or EARTH attributes can be normal summoned or special summoned. Players may not have more than one monster on their side of the field with the same attribute. By sending this card as well as one Fire Statue, one Water Statue, one Wind Statue and one Earth Statue, you can special summon one "Guardian of the Elemental Plains" from your hand or deck.

Wind Statue  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 0000  
Attribute: Wind  
Level: 2  
Type: Rock  
Image: A luminous green statue of a human face.  
Effect: When this card battles a monster with an Wind Attribute, Wind Statue and the opponent's monster are destroyed and you can increase your life points equal to the original attack of your opponent's destroyed monster. Then you may special summon from your hand or deck one "Wind Statue".

Opposing Elements  
Trap Card  
Image: A clear orb with fire and water swirling inside it.  
Effect: You can activate this card when you have one or more "Statue" monsters face up on your side of the field. Depending on the name of the card selected, activate the appropriate effect:  
Fire Statue - Special summon one "Water Statue" from your hand or deck.  
Water Statue - Special summon one "Fire Statue" from your hand or deck.  
Wind Statue - Special summon one "Earth Statue" from your hand or deck.  
Earth Statue - Special summon one "Wind Statue" from your hand or deck.

Elemental Instability  
Continuous Trap  
Image: An Earth Statue and Wind Statue with beams of energy connecting them.  
Effect: This card can be activated when you have two or more "Statue" monsters on your side of the field. When an opponent's monster attacks, you can change the attribute of the monster to one that matches one of your face up "Statue" monsters.

Fire Statue  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 0000  
Attribute: Fire  
Level: 2  
Type: Rock  
Image: A charred statue of a human face.  
Effect: When this card battles a monster with an Fire Attribute, Fire Statue and the opponent's monster are destroyed and you can increase your life points equal to the original attack of your opponent's destroyed monster. Then you may special summon from your hand or deck one "Fire Statue".

Water Statue  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 0000  
Attribute: Water  
Level: 2  
Type: Rock  
Image: A see through statue with swirling water in the shape of a human face.  
Effect: When this card battles a monster with an Water Attribute, Water Statue and the opponent's monster are destroyed and you can increase your life points equal to the original attack of your opponent's destroyed monster. Then you may special summon from your hand or deck one "Water Statue".

Guardian of the Elemental Plains  
ATK: 0000 DEF: 0000  
Attribute: Light  
Level: 8  
Type: Rock  
Image: A rocky warrior with parts of Fire Statue, Water Statue, Wind Statue and Earth Statue. It shares a similar appearance with the Elemental Plains.  
Effect: This card cannot be normal summoned or set. This card cannot be special summoned except with the effect of "Elemental Plains". This card gains 300 attack and defense for every FIRE, WATER, WIND and EARTH monster in either player's graveyards. This card takes no battle damage from monsters of FIRE, WATER, WIND or EARTH attributes and destroys them at the end of the damage step. Once per turn you can send one FIRE, WATER, WIND or EARTH monster from your deck to the graveyard and inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent.

Emissary of Rituals  
ATK: 1900 DEF: 1000  
Attribute: Wind  
Level: 4  
Type: Thunder  
Image: A hooded figure holding a stone tablet.  
Effect: If this card is in your graveyard as a result of battle when you perform a ritual summon, you can remove this card from play to half the stars of a ritual monster in your hand until the end phase of this turn.

Unlocked Powers  
Continuous Trap  
Image: Elemental Hero Sparkman surrounded by an aura of lightning.  
Effect: Select one normal monster on your side of the field. By paying life points in multiples of 1000, the selected normal monster gains the following effect(s):  
1000 - The selected monster can negate your opponent's monster from attacking once per turn.  
2000 - If the selected normal monster negates an attack, you can destroy the monster whose attack was negated.  
3000 - When a monster is destroyed through the effect of this card you may either special summon one normal monster from your hand with an attack less than the destroyed monster's, or inflict damage to your opponent equal to the original attack of the destroyed monster.


End file.
